I'd Carry a Plane for You (Season 1)
by JewWitch
Summary: The awesome tale of best friends Kara Danvers and Alex Grey, and how the near-death plane crash in ep 1 makes them realize they were never really just friends...they've been in love with each other since the day Kara's pod crashed in the woods behind Alex's house when they were 13 years old. SOME plot points from the show, but also lots of gooey Kalex fluff! (NOT SISTERS, K?)
1. Kri-zhao

Hey Supergang!

So this is a re-visioning of the pilot ep with Kara and Alex as best friends, NOT sisters. Best friends who are totally in love with each other and haven't yet faced it. This is just something I'm trying out, because even though I love their chemistry as sisters so so much...I also have such a huge crush on both of them and they could be such a gorgeous couple if they weren't sisters!

 **Note:** The title of this chap is a phrase that I crafted from existing vocab on an adorably dorky Kryptonian dictionary that I found online. The phrase is "Kri-zhao," and it literally means "bright love," but I am using it here to mean a soulmate bond. So, what I'm saying is, I put these words together from a "credited" dictionary source, but the phrase on its own is my construction. I like throwing in little bits of other languages in all my stories when it's relevant, even if the translation is awkward...because no one really knows this language anyway! It just makes the fantasy a little more real. Please enjoy the story!

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 1: Kri-zhao**

…...

 _"Geneva?"_ Kara's face fell into a pout that was almost comically adorable. "But...but tonight's potstickers, and trivia night at Noonan's! And tomorrow you promised we'd go to the Botanic Gardens for the Cherry Blossom Festival!" She pushed a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear as she gave her best friend her patented sad orphaned alien-puppydog eyes.

"I know babe, I'm sorry," Alex sighed, abandoning her half-packed suitcase to cross the room and hug her favorite person, hating to disappoint her. Kara put her head down against Alex's neck and hugged her back, in the gentle way she had been doing for twelve years so as not to crush her fragile human ribcage to a pulp. "You know I'd rather stay here and hang out with you, Kar. You _know_ that. But if Hank says I have to go represent the entire United States at a secret international extra-normal operations summit...I kinda have to go."

"No you don't," Kara whined softly into Alex's neck, keeping her arms of steel locked gently around her best friend so she couldn't walk back to her room and continue packing. Just yet. "Tell him you have your own extra-normal operation in your living room that orders you to stay home and eat pot stickers because it's Friday night and we've barely seen each other in, like, weeks." Alex chuckled softly, tightening her hold on her adorable alien and sifting her fingers through Kara's silky soft hair, something that never failed to calm and placate the other girl when she was upset.

"I'm sorry, Kar," the dark-haired girl murmured again quietly, stroking her cheek so she'd look up. When blue and brown eyes locked together, they both couldn't help smiling at each other, and they rested their foreheads together for another minute in peaceful silence before Kara finally let go.

"Okay, okay. _Go_ defend the world from face-melting telepathic alien dirtbags. I'll just stay here like a good little girl because how could I possibly help with _that?"_ The blonde girl huffed, rolling her eyes, only half-joking.

"We're not gonna have this conversation again, are we? Right now?" Alex sighed, walking back to her bedroom to continue throwing clothes and toiletries into her suitcase, as she only had ten minutes left before she had to leave for the airport. "You've never been inside the DEO, Kara. You don't know what they could do to you. And I am not, not, _not_ willing to find out!"

"But I could _help!_ My cousin"— Kara began her usual counter-argument, only to be cut off by her best friend's usual reply before she could even finish her own sentence.

"Is the exception to the rule," Alex finished, clicking her suitcase shut with a snap and putting her hands on her hips impatiently. "He was grown-up and saving the world before the DEO was created. He was the _reason_ the DEO was created. Everyone could see that he uses his powers for good, but every other alien that's ever landed on this planet has come to fuck shit up."

"Ahem," Kara said, folding her arms across her chest and cocking her head with an exasperated expression.

"Not _you,_ dummy," Alex sighed; then she shook her head with a little sideways grin, unable to get mad at the girl she loved best in the world—the whole galaxy, really—when it was obvious she just wanted to stall for time so Alex wouldn't leave. The dark-haired girl smirked knowingly. "You're trying to make me miss my flight, aren't you?" She raised an eyebrow, and Kara grinned back sheepishly.

 _"I_ can fly you to Geneva," the blonde girl grumbled, knowing she'd lost now but playing it out just a tiny bit further; just hoping for one more of Alex's beaming smiles before she left, that were reserved for Kara and no one else.

"I'll see you Sunday night, my little solar panel. Be good. Try not to embarrass Winn and James too much at trivia night. They don't know you have a photographic Kryptonian memory, and boys have fragile egos you know." Alex gave Kara the big glowing smile she was hoping for, dark brown eyes shining with affection. Kara took Alex's hand and pulled her in for one more hug, pressing their foreheads together again. Over the course of the last twelve years, it had become increasingly difficult for both of them not to lean in those last few inches that separated best friends from something more...but they were both too terrified of losing each other to summon the guts to try. Alex was the only human being on the planet besides Kara's foster parents who knew who she really was, _what_ she really was...she was the one person who made Kara feel safe, feel love, feel like she belonged. They'd shared almost everything since they were thirteen years old, including the apartment they now shared in National City since graduating from college two years ago. She couldn't risk losing Alex.

"Okay..." the blonde girl sighed, reaching both hands up to briefly run through her best friend's dark hair before standing on tiptoe to kiss her forehead. "Bye Lexie. I love you."

"I love you too, Kar. See you in three days." Kara watched Alex grab her rolling suitcase and exit their apartment, still pouting even after the other girl wasn't there to see it.

"Trivia night..." the blonde girl sighed to herself, resisting the urge to give in to self-pity and curl up on the couch with a half-gallon of ice cream and her Netflix queue.

…...

Once Kara got to Noonan's, she was glad to be there, despite missing Alex after only an hour. It wasn't as if she didn't love her other friends too. It wasn't the same as Alex...nothing was...but she loved them. They were smart and goofy and could eat almost as many buffalo wings as she could, which was really saying something since her metabolism was five times faster than theirs. Tonight's theme was horror movie trivia, which wasn't Kara's forte, so she sat back and let the boys do most of the talking for their team, simply enjoying being out and free on a Friday night, without Cat Grant barking orders at her or looking at her like she was an annoying mosquito. Kara sipped her Coke, letting her attention wander slightly...when suddenly the voice of the news anchor on the TV above the bar snapped her sharply to attention. On the screen was a picture of a plane circling low over the coastline of National City, one engine lighting up the night in flames.

"Is that the flight to Geneva? Did he say Geneva?" Kara gasped, her heart jumping straight up into her throat as she whipped off her lead-lined glasses and narrowed her eyes up at the top corner of the brick wall in front of her. Her x-ray vision quickly shot through the building, another mile's worth of skyscrapers that lined the National City coast, and up to the plane zigzagging over the water, seeing the terror on the faces of all the passengers as the plane shook and dropped in altitude. Yes. There was Alex. She looked scared too, but she was trying to calm and comfort the people around her, taking charge in a disaster in any way she could. Just like always.

No. Not Alex. _Not Alex._ Kara had spent her entire life on earth watching bad things happen that she knew she could stop. Forest fires, ambulances that didn't make it to the hospital in time, hell, even muggers and rapists in the dark alleys of her city. She let it all happen, because her cousin and her foster parents convinced her from the time she was thirteen years old that this world was not a safe place for her to be who she really was. She had _let_ them convince her. And once Alex was recruited into the DEO, she jumped on the wagon too, terrified of Kara being used as a lab rat or caged and tortured like a Fort Rozz intergalactic criminal. Kara had let them all convince her. She had stood back and let all these things happen around her.

But _not_ this. She didn't even think about it. She just jumped up from her bar stool and ran, leaving her purse and her glasses lying on the table between her friends as she burst into the street and ran down a side alley, ripping off her jacket as she ran faster, faster, and jumped into the air, rising about fifteen feet before she touched down again. It had been so long since she'd flown. _"Come on!"_ She screamed at herself, furious and terrified and surging with Kryptonian adrenalin. The next time she jumped, she rocketed straight up into the sky, shooting past the skyscrapers and into the clouds.

It took a minute to steady herself and find her slipstream; she'd never done anything like this before, trying to fly towards a moving object and match its speed and trajectory. But failure was not an option now. Flinging both her arms forward in front of her, she rocketed even faster towards the plane, in time to see the second engine ignite, and the plane begin to go into a genuine free-fall. Kara reached the plane, but wasn't quite sure where to begin; first she tried grabbing the wing to steady it, but she didn't have enough leverage to level the plane out. Her grip on the wing did have _some_ steady effect, however; enough to make Alex look out the window in surprise and see her best friend flying there, trying with all her might to hold up the 747 single-handed. Kara looked over at Alex's window at the same time Alex was looking out at her, and they shared a silent, fierce moment of eye contact before Kara gave up on the wing and flew directly under the plane's belly, lifting the front of the plane up with her shoulders with a scream of intensity as she pushed her powerful body to its limits for the first time in her life. It was working, the plane was leveling out; but then just as she started to smile with relief, Kara looked up and saw the bridge dead ahead of them.

"Oh, come _on!"_ She screamed in frustration. It was true, when she'd leapt into the air her only thought was for Alex; but she wasn't about to sacrifice other innocent lives in the process, and letting the plane slice through the suspension wires of the bridge would send dozens of cars plummeting to a watery grave. Cars with families, someone's parents, someone's children. With another shriek of intensity, Kara dug her hands into the belly of the plane, creating hand-holds in the metal, and pulling it sideways so the wings could pass vertically through the space between two wires. It was very, very close; the left wing scraped across the pavement, sending sparks into the air, but it didn't hit any cars. Kara was far too focused on her task to notice the dozens of phones pointing up and snapping pictures of her from the cars on the bridge as she passed them by, holding up the plane, with her long hair whipping behind her in the heavy winds. As soon as they'd made it safely through the bridge, Kara released her sideways momentum and let the plane settle into a level equilibrium on her shoulders once more, trying to slow its velocity as it crept closer and closer to the water's surface. Finally, she had no other choice than to release the huge aircraft as it touched down on the water, sending her under the surface for a few frightening, disorienting moments, as she was sucked into the undertow of the churning currents created by the plane's momentum as it crashed into the water. She may be bulletproof, but she still needed to breathe.

Finally, after a few moments that felt like hours, Kara found the surface, and came up gasping, pulling herself up onto the wing of the plane as she panted and trembled with waves of aftershock and relief. The sound of wild cheering made her look over at the passengers in the plane, every single one of whom was staring out at her and taking her picture. A shaft of light poured down over her dripping wet body from a rescue helicopter hovering above, and as soon as she looked up at it, she knew she had to get gone fast. With one last searching look at the plane, she caught Alex's stunned eyes, and smiled hugely; then she shot into the air again, so fast the helicopters couldn't possibly follow.

…...

Kara had to wash her hair three times to get all the grime and stinky jet fuel rinsed out, and by the time Alex got home from the rescued plane, the blonde girl was dried and changed and stuffing her face with pot stickers, her insides growling with hunger after all the energy she'd just exerted.

"Oh my God, Lex! Did you see me?" Kara abandoned her food and threw her arms around her best friend, letting go a second later when she heard the dark-haired girl yelp in pain. "Oh! Sorry! That was too hard. But you saw me right? You saw me save the plane? I can't believe I did it! I mean I always knew I _could_ , if Clark can do it then I can do it, but he always told me to just lay low and blend in, and I _tried_ Lexie, I tried so hard for so long, but now it's like I'm finally the real me, and it was so amazing..." Kara was rambling like an overexcited ten-year-old on Ritalin, pacing back and forth across the living room rug with a huge smile plastered across her face. Then she stopped and noticed the horrified—even angry?—look on her best friend's face.

"What were you _thinking?"_ Alex demanded harshly, sounding more like a disappointed parent than a best friend, who by the way had just been rescued from a fiery death in the sky. The anger in her dark eyes completely took the wind out of Kara's sails, and she stopped dead in her tracks, falling silent for a moment as they stared at each other in disbelief. "Kara, you just outed yourself to the entire goddam world! Did you _see_ all those pictures? What if someone recognizes you, what if they figure out who you are? Do you think I want to see you locked up in one of those fishbowls in the DEO?" The angry tears welling up in Alex's dark eyes were matched by the heartbroken ones in Kara's, staring back at her in disbelief.

"I was _thinking_..." Kara said slowly, as a tear spilled over and slid down her face, "...about _saving_ your _life._ "

"Kara, you can't risk yourself like that _ever_ again, not even for me. Do you understand?" Alex demanded, crying now too as all the images of torture and experimentation that could befall her beloved Kara in the cells of the DEO flashed across her mind.

"No, Alex. _You_ don't understand," Kara shook her head, her voice quivering with the effort of not bursting into sobs. "There was no choice for me. You were going to _die._ And I can't..." Kara's voice broke as she tried to pull herself together, wiping the tears angrily from her face. "I can't live without you. Don't you _know_ that? If I just let you die, when I had the power to save you...I wouldn't care if they locked me in a Kryptonite cell for the rest of my life. It wouldn't matter. _Nothing_ would matter." They both stared at each other with tears of terror and confusion and adrenalin running down their cheeks, silent for a few long moments. They weren't silent to Kara, of course; she could hear both their hearts beating fast, the blood rushing through their bodies, the elevated sound of Alex's breathing.

"Kara..." Alex whispered, her voice shellshocked with emotion as she crossed the space between them and tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her best friend's ear, stroking a tear from her cheek. "I didn't...I'm sorry, I, I..." Alex bit her lip furiously to hold herself together, tears still spilling from her dark eyes. "I can't live without you either." Kara stared at her best friend for a long moment, all the fears that had held her back before falling away in the clarity of her first post-rescue high.

"Fuck it," the blonde superhero murmured, and slipped both hands into her beloved Alex's shiny dark hair, kissing her hard on the mouth. Alex melted into Kara's kiss, like she had been expecting it, like she had been waiting for it (and she had, for years). It was slow, and tender, and burning, both their faces still wet with tears. No other first kiss had ever compared to this; how could it? How could anything good or right or true hold a candle to a first kiss with someone you've loved for half your life? The entire world fell away, all of Kara's natural super-senses reversing direction from out into the world, to _in_ , into Alex, the rapid pounding of her heart, the warmth of her skin, the sweet smell of her strawberry shampoo that made Kara's knees weak.

"Oh my God, is this really happening?" Alex murmured breathlessly when they broke apart for air, her hands still holding Kara possessively by her hips, and slipping around to her lower back. There was no space between them, they were pressed flush against each other, and even without super-senses Alex could feel the warm, rapid pounding of Kara's heart.

"Only if you want it to," the blonde girl murmured back, leaning her forehead against Alex's the way she had a million times before; she knew the truth of the answer without having to ask, but she just needed to hear it. She needed to hear Alex say it.

"Kara...you carried a plane on your back for me..." Alex shook her head, laughing even while the tears were still sliding down her face. "I've wanted this since the day I saw you get out of that goddam pod when it crashed into the gully," She answered honestly, her fears slipping away like Kara's had a moment before. There was no reason to be afraid. They both knew it now.

"Me too," Kara smiled, as bright as the sun, kissing her again fiercely. "Lexie, Lexie...I crossed the entire galaxy to find you...my k _ri-zhao_..."

"Bright love," Alex murmured back, having picked up a decent amount Kryptonese vocabulary over the past twelve years with Kara. "Brighter than the sun...like you..."

"Like _us,"_ Kara corrected her, not even realizing she was floating them up to the ceiling until she had Alex's back pressed up against it. It was almost an hour before they floated back down to the floor again.


	2. Beginnings

Hey kiddies!

Thanks for all the positive feedback on the first part, glad to know you're all on board the USS Kalex! Now you get another nummy treat. Small note, I obviously had to choose which one of them would get to keep the name Danvers in this AU, and which wouldn't...so I chose Kara, she is still Kara Danvers. Alex's last name is Grey, which if you love Chyler Leigh even half as much as I do, you will totally understand why it's perfect! Enjoy, and yes, there will be lots more parts to come :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 2**

…...

When Alex's alarm went off the next morning, she couldn't reach it because of Kara's dead weight on top of her. The feeling of her sweet, beloved alien's soft skin pressed against hers everywhere was beyond heaven; but the high-pitched trill of the alarm clock was ruining it, Alex _hated_ the sound of her alarm clock, but she deliberately didn't change it to something more pleasant because the fact that she hated it was the only thing that got her up in the first place.

"Kar...wake up baby," Alex hummed, scratching her nails lightly up and down Kara's back, savoring every inch of her silky skin, the curve of her spine. Her girl. Her sunlight. Her everything. _Hers._

"I am awake," Kara mumbled against Alex's neck, wrapping one arm a little tighter around her hip so she was even less able to move than she had been a moment ago. "I'm just not moving. No moving."

"But the alarm..." Alex whined. She _seriously_ hated that shrill electronic beeping. How could it not be bothering Kara, with her supersonic hearing? In response, Kara lifted her head, reaching across Alex's body and hitting the alarm clock a little too hard, smashing it to bits.

"Oops," Kara murmured sleepily. Alex giggled.

"I'm lucky you didn't accidentally crush _me_ into the ceiling last night, huh? That would be really hard to explain to the landlord." Alex was grinning like an idiot, sifting her fingers idly through Kara's long hair, loving the feel of it sliding between her fingers. She always had. Kara was beaming back at her just as brightly, her smile shining like the sun.

"I'd never hurt you, Lexie," the blonde girl said seriously, propping herself up on one elbow on the bed, her free hand grazing Alex's cheek, tracing the curve of her jaw.

"I know," Alex said simply. Kara leaned down and kissed her, and all at once they were both completely and thoroughly awake, their bodies shifting together with every breath. Kara could feel both of their heartbeats starting to rise again.

"No no nooo...we can't, we can't get all riled up again right now," Alex groaned softly against Kara's lips. "It's morning, we have to get up and go do stuff..."

"No. No doing stuff," Kara murmured, lowering her head and scraping her teeth lightly against Alex's pulse point, making the dark-haired girl sigh and squirm underneath her. "Let's be sick today. I'm sick. No work."

"Kara..." Alex half-whimpered, half-whined, unable to stop herself from wrapping one hand into the soft blonde hair at the back of Kara's neck and holding her there, it felt so good. "Ohhhh...we _can't_ blow off workthough, baby...not now, we just can't...God I don't want to but we _have_ to stop..."

 _"Whyyyyy?"_ Kara whined into Alex's neck, drawing out the word like a cranky four-year-old at naptime.

"Because _my_ job is to track down the mysterious flying alien that saved a plane and made national news last night, and _your_ job is to _report_ the story on the mysterious flying alien that saved a plane and made national news last night," Alex sighed. Saying it out loud helped snap her out of her sexy delicious bubble and sit up in bed unwillingly. "We _have_ to be there to do as much spin control as we possibly can. Frame it right. Try to keep you anonymous." Kara groaned in frustration, knowing that Alex was right but hating it.

"Wanna take a quick trip to the Phantom Zone?" The blonde girl asked teasingly, still grinning like a goofy kid. "Time doesn't pass there, ya know, so we can pick up all the pieces of this shitstorm when we get back. _After_ we do everything we did last night a couple thousand more times." Alex sighed, a pouty little smile on her face as she leaned in and kissed Kara one more time, then determinedly rolled out of bed and pulled on her robe to avoid any further temptation.

"We _have_ to go to work today, Kar. I don't want to either, but we have to baby. I'm getting in the shower, 'kay?"

"Want some help?" the blonde girl smiled innocently.

"Kara, stay," Alex said sternly, like the other girl was a puppy. Kara pouted and made the appropriate sad puppy eyes. "Baby, please don't pout. We have the rest of our lives for earth-shattering naked sexytime. But first we have to make sure we _have_ a 'rest of our lives' by dealing with this media blitz of you flying through the air holding a plane over National City Bridge. Right?"

 _"Ughhh._ Right," Kara conceded with a sigh, flopping down against the pillows in defeat. "Fine, go shower. I'm making waffles. Soooo many waffles." The blonde girl brightened as she thought about breakfast, realizing how absolutely famished she was.

"Good idea, boo," Alex smirked, knowing how much Kara needed to eat on just a regular day to fuel her Kryptonian metabolism, and wondering how much more she'd have to stuff her face today. _That was all me,_ the dark haired girl thought with a smug smile. "Go make your waffles. I'll see you in the kitchen in twenty minutes."

"Okay," Kara sighed, climbing out of bed and pulling on her robe, then cupping Alex's face for one last electric, heart-pounding kiss that made the dark-haired girl's pale face flush pink. "See you," Kara smirked, pulling away with a little wink.

"You are evil, Kara Danvers."

"You love it," Kara replied happily.

"Yeah."

…...

Being in separate rooms for all of twenty minutes did help them both calm their racing hormones and pull themselves together for the work day, and when Alex came out of the shower they somehow managed to eat breakfast without any makeout breaks, because they _really really_ didn't have time.

"Be good today, bluebird," Alex sighed; it was a childhood nickname she'd given her little alien years ago, because of her beautiful blue eyes. They both smiled goofily as they put their dishes in the sink and grabbed their stuff for work. "Try not to, you know, _react_ when Cat Grant starts spinning wild conjectures about the whole plane incident. Just be normal. Don't give her a reason to put a big floating question mark over your head. And I'll try to throw Hank and DEO off course as much as I possibly can without drawing any attention to myself, either."

"Lexie," Kara frowned, folding her arms over her chest and tapping her foot, a position she unconsciously went into when she was preparing to debate something she felt strongly about. "Maybe we're blowing off a huge opportunity here. With the DEO, you know, and me. Maybe you shouldn't try to throw them off track. Maybe you can just casually say to Hank, _hey, how about that flying girl who saved the plane last night, she's just like Superman._ And he'll say, _yeah, it would be so completely awesome if we could get her to come and work with us._ And you say, _no problem chief, 'cause she's my girlfriend!"_ For the first time, Alex didn't argue back with Kara's not-so-gentle nudging toward letting her identity be known to the DEO. Instead, she took Kara's hand and pulled her close, one last time before they went out the door, wrapping both arms around her neck.

"You're my girlfriend," the dark-haired agent smiled, leaning in and giving her gorgeous alien one last, light kiss on the lips, careful not to let it deepen out of fear they'd never make it out the door.

"I am," Kara nodded, not even caring when she felt the bright pink blush rising in her cheeks. "So completely and totally yours. I was from the moment I stepped out of my pod and saw your big brown eyes looking back at me. I think..." Kara wrapped her arms around Alex's hips and pulled her closer; not to melt her bones with another heavenly kiss, but to press their foreheads lightly together, like they'd been doing since they were thirteen years old. Instead of making their hearts thump harder, the familiar, loving touch calmed them both. "I think it wasn't an accident that I spent twenty-four years sleeping in the Phantom Zone...and it wasn't an accident that my pod crashed next to you that day, right smack in the middle of nowhere." (It hadn't _really_ been the middle of nowhere; just a few miles outside town, where there was nothing but ocean and rolling hills as far as the eye could see). "I was never meant to come here for Kal-El. The universe sent me to _you_ , Lex."

"Thank you, universe," Alex murmured, winding her fingers into long blonde hair one last time before walking out the door, eyes closed as she savored the memory of that first moment, when she gave her whole heart to Kara without the slightest reservation. "Thank you..."

…...

It had started out as a completely unremarkable Saturday afternoon. Thirteen-year-old Alex had finished all her homework in the morning; she was a complete nerd under her tough-girl exterior, but tried very hard to keep her street cred by pretending not to give a crap about school. But some weekends, she just needed to stop pretending, and be by herself with some very thick book or another that was way, way beyond her grade level. She liked going for hikes into the hills behind her house to read; no one from school would see her geeking out, and it was so quiet and peaceful and the sun shone so warmly on nice days, like this one. So, Alex had grabbed one of her Dad's astrophysics texts and shoved it in her backpack with some snacks and a water bottle, and a blanket to sit on, and headed out into nature, enjoying the stillness and the faint cawing of seagulls from the beach just across the hills. She'd been quietly reading under her favorite tree for over an hour when it happened—a flash of glinting glass and metal shining in her eyes that made her look up at the sky, as it zipped across her field of vision and crashed into the gully just over the hill, sending up a huge cloud of dust.

Alex gasped and dropped her book, immediately running towards the dust cloud, sure that some small airplane had just crashed. It had been moving so fast, and the sun had been right in her eyes, so she hadn't really seen it clearly. But what else could it be? She sprinted up and over the hill as fast as she could, scared that someone could be seriously injured and in need of medical attention; but when she got to the top of the hill and looked down, she stopped short.

It wasn't a plane. It wasn't a missile, or a fallen satellite, or anything that Alex could put a name to. There below her was a strange but beautiful small white craft, with a clear dome that opened to reveal a girl with long blonde hair, just a kid, no older than Alex herself. She was blinking and looking around, appearing unhurt; but Alex still felt compelled to run to her, to make sure. She just crashed from the sky, she must at _least_ be in shock.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Alex panted, reaching the pod just as Kara was stepping uncertainly out of it. The blonde girl was dressed strangely, odd cuts of fabric all in white, just like her tiny aircraft.

"Yes...I think so," Kara said cautiously, glad not to be alone but still wary and a little woozy, having just woken up from her extended hypersleep to find that she was 24 years late in her arrival, according to the pod's internal time log; yet she was still the same thirteen-year-old child she'd been when she left Krypton. She was very confused. She wasn't even sure whether this was the right planet. "Sorry, can I ask you...where are we?" the blonde girl questioned, awkwardly but politely.

"Midvale," Alex said cautiously, her eyes running over the strange girl again as if trying to make sense of her. She was obviously disoriented, but she had such a sparkle in her big blue eyes, Alex felt transfixed, totally unable to look away. "Um, my house is just a couple of miles that way," she pointed down to the small two-lane country road in the distance. "I'm Alex Grey," she added, sticking out her hand and attempting a casual smile, as if greeting beautiful girls who fell out of the sky was no big.

"Hi," the blonde girl said uncertainly, looking at Alex's outstretched hand as if it were baffling to her somehow. "I'm Kara Zor-El." She still didn't know what the proper response was to a human holding out their hand like that; so she just reached out and grazed her fingers lightly over Alex's. They both blushed slightly and pulled their hands back.

"Um, don't you know how to shake hands?" Alex asked warily, trying not to let herself think what she was thinking, because what she was thinking was completely insane and impossible. Kara raised an eyebrow at her uncertainly; then she held up both her hands—like she was in a police shootout—and waved them back and forth a little. Alex burst out laughing. Kara blushed five times brighter.

"That was wrong, wasn't it?" Kara asked worriedly. "I'm sorry, I'm just really confused right now."

"Don't worry, I'm right there with you," Alex assured her with a smile, reaching out her hand one more time and squeezing the blonde girl's shoulder in reassurance. "Kara, um...where did you come from?"

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell," Kara frowned uncertainly. The fact that she was twenty four years off schedule made her doubt everything else her mother had told her before she was shot out of the docking bay, moments before her planet exploded into stardust. "Alex? This may sound like a very strange question, but..." Kara trailed off, biting her lip uncertainly. Alex just raised an eyebrow in response, waiting for the other girl to find her tongue again. "Midvale..." the blonde girl said slowly, "is it...are we...on earth?"

"Okay, wow, this is happening," Alex murmured to herself, feeling her heart begin to race inside her chest with wonder and excitement. Then she looked back up at Kara and said, "Yes. This is earth. Is this...I mean...did you come from another planet, Kara?"

Kara wavered, biting her lip as she weighed what she could say, what she _should_ say. She was supposed to keep her identity secret. But she was _also_ supposed to be with Kal-El, and it was supposed to be twenty-four years ago, and she was still queasy and disoriented from her abrupt awakening from hypersleep. The dark eyes looking questioningly into hers were open and warm, full of light and curious intelligence and compassion. Kara could see that right away. On impulse, she decided to trust Alex Grey.

"Yes. I came from a...a very long way away. My planet was dying. My parents sent me here to save me, but...I was supposed to be with my baby cousin, I was supposed to watch over him, and now I don't know if he ever even made it here, since it took me twenty-four years to get here, he could be grown up by now or he could still be lost out in space somewhere too..." Kara was babbling, a habit that Alex would grow quite accustomed to in the coming years; but at the moment she was gaping and just trying to follow along.

"Wait, stop. What do you mean it took you twenty-four years to get here? You're just a kid, you couldn't have spent twenty-four years _anywhere._ You _are_ a kid, right?" Alex asked suspiciously, wondering if perhaps this girl was a grown woman from a planet where everyone looked like a kid forever.

"I'm thirteen," Kara answered. Alex smiled.

"Me too." They grinned at each other in silence for a moment. "So then how...?"

"I don't know for certain, but based on my pod's internal chronometer...I'm pretty sure I was in the Phantom Zone," Kara frowned anxiously.

"The what now?"

"The Phantom Zone. It's a place outside time, if you're there you never age...and you never die. It's where my people sent our most dangerous criminals...to be trapped with their regrets forever." Kara shuddered as her mind was suddenly flooded with a tactile, sensory awareness of where she had been, how easily she could have been trapped there, asleep, forever...and she began to shake, her breathing and heart rate shooting up rapidly.

"Hey, Kara, it's okay. Don't freak out. You're safe now, it's gonna be all right..." Alex tried to soothe the panic from Kara's clear blue eyes, but the blonde girl didn't seem to be able to hear her, lost in a trance-like state of frightened disorientation, her breathing becoming shallow and her cheeks flushing pink with the rapid pounding of her heart.

"It's okay Kara," Alex said again, more quietly, as she took a step closer and wrapped her arms tightly around the trembling blonde girl. Kara pressed her face into Alex's hair, which was cool and smelled sweet, like the fragrant nectar blossoms in her mother's garden back on Krypton. _No_. Krypton wasn't there anymore. Kara started to cry, she was so confused and overwhelmed and the only thing she knew for sure was that Alex's arms were around her, and that meant she was safe; it was safe to cry. She wrapped her arms around the dark-haired girl and clung to her, trying to be as light with her touch as possible, remembering even through her tears and confusion that her mother said she would be stronger here, that she would have great power. She had to be careful. She didn't want to hurt Alex.

They stood there holding onto each other until Kara calmed down and stopped crying; when she finally raised her head from Alex's shoulder, the dark-haired girl gave her a glowing smile and brushed a few tears away with her thumb. Kara smiled weakly back, even though her face was still streaked with tears, and leaned her forehead against Alex's for the very first time. They both closed their eyes for a minute, totally content, neither feeling the need to fill the peaceful silence between them.

"Do you feel a little better now?" Alex asked gently.

"Not a little. A lot," Kara smiled shyly.

In a sudden flash of wind just like the one that blew over the hill when Kara's pod crashed, a blue and red figure streaked out of the sky and landed right next to them with a _whomp_ that made the ground shudder. Alex grabbed Kara and pushed the blonde girl behind her on reflex, ready to defend the sweet, innocent alien girl by any means necessary. Before her brain could begin to process the deep chuckle from the figure in front of her, her dark eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped. If she had known her day was going to turn out like _this,_ well, she wouldn't have bothered toting her dad's heavy book all the way out here.

"You're...you're...Superman," Alex stuttered, her tense stance in front of Kara relaxing in shock as she realized there was no threat.

"Who?" Kara asked uncertainly behind her. The caped man smiled and looked over Alex's head at his young cousin, still dressed in her Kryptonian travel clothes with her pod still steaming just a dozen feet away. Clearly he'd made good time.

"Hello, Kara," the man of steel held out his hand, and Kara grabbed it, confused and utterly certain at the same time.

"Kal-El?" She asked warily, looking up wide-eyed at her impossibly large and grown-up baby cousin. "You...you _did_ make it here all right..."

"I did indeed. I have to admit, after all these years I'd almost lost hope of ever seeing your face on this planet, little cousin."

"Cousin?" Alex squeaked, her eyes growing wide again as she looked back and forth between little Kara, and larger-than-life superhero standing over them. "Your cousin is _Superman?!"_ The man of steel looked questioningly at the dark-haired girl.

"Oh, um, this is Alex," Kara spluttered hastily, her hand unconsciously finding the other girl's and threading their fingers together. Alex gripped hers just as tightly. "She's...she's...she's my friend."

"Well look at you, little Kara Zor-El. Not even on earth half a day and already making friends." The girls both grinned shyly at the imposing hero's gentle teasing. Then Kara's face grew very serious.

"Kal...I failed you. I was supposed to be here, to take care of you, to help you grow up. I...I'm so sorry..." Kara looked miserably down at her feet, tears welling up again silently.

"Hush, little one. You bare no blame. I grew up just fine with a normal human family, just like every other kid on earth. And you will too." Superman ruffled his little cousin's hair, and she looked up again with a weak smile, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "Come on, there are some very nice people waiting to meet you. Their home will be your home. They will love you as their own." He reached his hand out for Kara's, but Alex stepped in between them again, panic rising in _her_ voice now.

"Wait, stop, please. Don't take her back to Metropolis. S-she can live here, she can live with me! My parents won't mind, they always wanted more kids but my mom had to have a hysterectomy and then"—Alex was the one babbling now, suddenly on the edge of hysteria at the idea of Kara being whisked out of her life so quickly, all the way to the other side of the country. They had barely known each other an hour. But she didn't want Kara to go. And Kara didn't either, judging from the way the blonde girl's fingers were still gripping hers tightly.

Superman laughed and laid a reassuring hand on Alex's shoulder. "Calm down, kiddo. I'm not taking her to Metropolis. I'm not taking her away."

"Y-you're not?" Alex half-choked with relief.

"No," the man of steel shook his head, still smiling at the two young girls in front of him, the light and the dark, yin and yang, gripping each other's hands like they would never let go. "I'm only taking her a few miles down the road, actually. You live here in Midvale, Alex?"

"Yeah," Alex nodded, with a huge sigh of relief at his declaration that Kara wasn't going anywhere.

"Well Kara is going to be living with the Danvers now. Do you know them?"

"The biologists? Yeah...their house is just a mile or so down the beach from mine," Alex nodded. It was a small town. Everyone pretty much knew each other at least a little. "So...Kara's going to be living...right in my neighborhood?" There was a wary note of hesitation in her voice, like she was waiting for the catch, because it all just seemed too good to be true.

"That's right." The two girls looked at each other and beamed. Then suddenly Superman was down on one knee, so he was on their eye level, looking at Alex with a serious, though not unkind expression. His eyes were as blue as Kara's. "Now, Alex...I have to ask you to promise me something. It's unfair to ask a child to keep a secret so huge, but we simply don't have a choice. Kara's true identity can never be revealed to anyone, ever. The Danvers once helped me understand and control my powers—they'll do that for Kara as well—but the fact is they've known my true identity for years, and always kept my secret. No one else was ever supposed to know that Kara is anything other than a foster child. It seems the universe chose you to welcome my cousin to this planet, so I have to trust that you are meant to be her solace, her confidant, and that you understand the seriousness of this secret. You can never reveal Kara's true identity to anyone, ever—not even your parents. Can you do that?"

"Yes," Alex nodded vehemently. "I promise. _I promise,_ " she repeated emphatically, looking at Kara now, making the promise to _her_ , not to Superman.

"Thank you," Kara smiled, lighting up like the golden yellow sun that bathed her new planet in its light.

"Come on, Kara. The Danvers are waiting." Superman held out his hand to his young cousin. Kara looked up at him, then back at Alex.

"The house where I'm going—you know where it is?" the blonde girl asked her new friend, even though she'd already said she did, Kara just had to make sure.

"Uh-huh," Alex nodded. "Maybe...maybe I could come by and visit you tomorrow?"

"Maybe you could come tonight?" Kara asked hesitantly, not wanting to seem too needy. But Alex's huge smile told her that wasn't going to be a problem.

"Sure. I'll just have to ask my parents if I can come over after dinner, but I'm sure they'll say yes. I mean, who wouldn't want to give a nice welcome to the new foster kid in town, right?" She winked, and Kara giggled.

"Okay, well...I guess I'll see you later, Alex."

"See you soon Kara." They squeezed each other's hand one more time. Then the man of steel was scooping up his little cousin in one arm, and shooting up into the clouds with her. Alex rubbed her forehead absently, in the spot where Kara's head had rested against hers. "Wow," she murmured, smiling dazedly. Her entire world had just been flipped upside down...but it didn't feel that way. It felt like she only just realized that everything had been upside down _before,_ and now things were finally how they were always meant to be. She daydreamed about the sparkle in Kara's blue eyes all the way home, smiling like an idiot.


	3. Kara Comes Out

Hello darlings!

So I got a lot of great feedback on part 1, but not much on part 2. Y'all still out there digging it? It's harder for me to keep going if I think I'm just talking to myself, so plz let me know what you think! Enjoy...and who am I kidding, there will be more to come no matter what ;)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 3**

…...

Kara was still smiling like a goofy kid lost in a daydream when she stepped off the elevator onto the executive floor of CatCo, carrying her usual latte for her boss and a big ol' bag of bear claws for herself from Noonan's. She may have eaten twelve waffles covered in butter and maple syrup before she left for work, but her stomach still felt empty and rubmly with hunger, which wasn't surprising given the amount of energy she'd burned the night before. A fresh wave of sensory bliss washed over her body at the mere thought of Alex's hands on her bare skin, and her smile got even bigger as a warm blush rose in her cheeks. She couldn't stop thinking about it. It wasn't even _thinking_ , really; it was more like sense memory, washing over her in waves, her body reliving the tactile, immediate awareness of Alex's hands in her hair, her warm breath, her lips, her teeth, her skin on Kara's everywhere. The physical intensity of her blissed-out memory of the night before made Kara feel like she was in some kind of altered state of consciousness. It was a level of intimacy and vulnerability that defied anything the blonde alien girl had experienced. Alex...Alex was already everything to Kara, had been the shining star of her life from her first earthly breath. Touching her made every inch of Kara's body feel like it was exploding in fireworks. She had no hesitations, no doubts. She felt brave and fearless, not in a superhero-saving-a-plane way, but in a regular-girl who finally got to kiss the one she loved best after twelve years kind of way.

The blonde girl knew she ought to be focusing more on the whole saving a plane, national news, the entire world knew she could fly now thing, and she tried; she tried to make herself play out in her head what she would say to Ms. Grant, how she wanted to spin the story, what she would do if anyone recognized her, which seemed pretty likely to Kara, it wasn't as if she looked so different without her glasses. But the second she stopped actively forcing herself to think about adulting, there was Alex again, her beautiful fierce girl, her shining star, her whole world.

"Here's your latte, Ms. Grant," Kara deposited her usual steaming hot latte on her boss's desk. The blonde girl almost always had a cheerful voice, but she must have been extra-tweaky-happy-sounding today, because Cat Grant actually looked up from her keyboard, assessing her assistant with one eyebrow lifted behind her stylish cat-eye glasses.

"Well aren't we the chipper little bluebird this morning," the older woman observed wryly, picking up her latte and taking a sip without comment, which meant it was perfect and there was nothing to criticize. Kara stiffened slightly, the light behind her smile fading like she'd had a cold bucket of water thrown over her. _Bluebird_ was one of Alex's pet names for her. No one else called her that. She didn't _want_ anyone else to call her that, least of all her brilliant but overbearing and sometimes nasty boss. But this was good, she needed some kind of slap in the face to get her head out of the clouds (such sweet clouds, they smelled like Alex's shampoo), and back into work mode.

"Well, umm, yes ma'am," Kara stuttered, a little tongue-tied as she frantically tried to pull herself together into professional work mode. "It's, it's just a big, um, big news day, right? With the whole...the plane thing..." Her heart started racing, not in the blissful-overload way it had last night in Alex's arms, but in the oh-crap-don't-fire-me kind of way.

"Calm down, Kira, you'd think you had to write the cover story yourself," Cat Grant sighed dismissively, rolling her eyes as her attention darted quickly back from her assistant to her computer screen. "But yes, it _is_ a big news day. With the whole... _plane thing._ " The older woman said sarcastically, still not taking her eyes off her computer screen. "I need you to call an executive staff meeting in my office right now. We are _not_ going to get scooped by the Daily Planet this time. They have their own superhero, and now we finally have ours. A woman, no less. Feminist utopia arrives in National City. We are going to brand this girl for the whole world to see before anyone else has a chance." Ms. Grant looked up when she realized that her assistant wasn't moving, wasn't going off to call her senior staff together as she had just requested. The blonde girl was just...standing there, wide-eyed, like she'd just begun work at CatCo yesterday and didn't realize that when Cat Grant said five minutes, what she really meant was _right now_ , and when she said right now, she meant _five minutes ago or your ass is fired_. "Go go, Kira. Flitter away now."

"Yes, Ms. Grant," Kara squeaked, grabbing her iPad and hurrying out of the large office to call the department heads together. She'd been momentarily transfixed with anxiety listening to Cat Grant talk about _branding_ her, like she was cattle that was about to become property of CatCo. But at least the sharp-eyed boss lady hadn't recognized her from the few photos released from the plane rescue on the news the night before. But those shots were all blurry, at weird angles, and her hair had been so grimy with jet fuel it had looked almost black. Alex was right—if she kept on using her powers and being heroic in public, eventually someone was going to get a clear shot, and then Cat Grant and National City and the whole world would know that Kara Danvers was an alien. And then what?

Kara ran from office to office, preferring this to any sort of electronic messaging when Ms. Grant said _right now_. She came to James' office last; he was her friend, he'd been with her in the bar when she'd jumped up and literally ran out the door without explanation, a whole minute and a half before the mysterious plane rescuer appeared. He wasn't stupid. Kara was afraid of what he might ask her, because in truth she was a terrible liar. "Hey." She knocked on his door as she was opening it, smiling a little nervously. "Meeting in Ms. Grant's office, like two minutes ago."

"Right. The plane rescue last night. She's gonna want the big byline," James nodded, his usual calm, amused grin already in place when he looked at Kara. "So...are you gonna give her the exclusive, or what?" Kara stared at him, even more wide-eyed than she had been in Ms. Grant's office.

"You...you know?" She choked, completely unable to summon even the pretense of denying it when James already knew, he _knew_. Kara could see it.

"Kara, please. You know I spent the last eight years before I came here photographing your cousin in Metropolis, right? I won a Pulitzer for it?" James chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"My cousin?" the blonde superhero repeated blankly, the wheels in her head spinning so fast she couldn't seem to jump off. "You know that I'm...that he's my...you _know?"_

"Relax, Kara. After all this time, I know how to keep a Kryptonian's secrets. We'll talk after the meeting." James winked at her, and walked past her to Cat's office. Kara just stood there hyperventilating for a minute. She knew she could trust James, she always had, he was one of her best friends in the world—but no human being on the planet knew about her extra-terrestrial secret except her foster parents and Alex. _No one._ It was a completely unexpected shock to her system, one that at least took her mind off Alex's bare skin for a minute. Now that she had finished corralling up the department heads to go meet with Ms. Grant, she was free to return to her normal duties; but her heart was racing and her brain was spinning and she needed to talk to someone, someone she could tell everything to. Obviously James was under that heading now; but he'd be in with Ms. Grant for at least twenty minutes, and she needed to talk to someone _now_. She didn't even stop to think who that someone should be. She knew.

"Winn, I have to talk to you," she whispered anxiously, running to her friend's desk that was right across from hers and leaning down low, as if anyone were trying to overhead them. "Meet me on the roof in two minutes."

"The—what? Kara? The roof?" Winn frowned in obvious confusion, but he still got up an followed after her, not about to question Kara Danvers if she wanted to be alone with him anywhere. Even if that anywhere was the roof of a thirty-story skyscraper. When he got to the top level and ascended the stairwell to the roof door, there was Kara, pacing back and forth like she was about to tell him she was a fugitive from justice or something.

"Kara, what is up with you? Are you okay? Is this about why you left the bar so fast last night? I have your stuff under my desk, by the way."

"Thank you. Yes. And yes. I'm okay, it is about last night. I'm going to tell you something about me that only four people on earth know. I know I should've told you this a long time ago but it's just that I've never told anyone, I didn't think it was safe, but last night something happened that changed everything and I _don't_ wantto hide who I am anymore..." Kara was babbling fiercely, the way she always did when she was overwhelmed, and as one of her closest friends Winn was no stranger to it.

"Oh my God, you're gay!" Winn blurted out, looking weirdly thrilled. "Kara, this is great! This explains everything! Hey, congrats..."

"No, no, that's—well, yes, actually, but that's not what I came up here to tell you," Kara frowned, momentarily sidetracked from her big reveal by Winn's odd reaction to her sexuality. "But what do you mean, _this explains everything?"_ She raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot.

"Well, you know," Winn shrugged a little sheepishly. "Why you wouldn't go out with me." Kara rolled her eyes. She didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings, but it annoyed her on reflex when men assumed the only reason a woman wouldn't want to date them was because she was gay. Winn seemed to notice her bristle, and tried to backpedal a little. "I mean, if you _did_ like guys...I'd totally have a shot, right?"

"Duuuude," Kara groaned. She _really_ did not want to hurt her friend's feelings. But what kind of question _was_ that? "Come on, I don't know. If _you_ liked guys, would you wanna date James?" Winn's eyebrows knit together in a moment of obvious confusion, having absolutely no idea what to say. "Yeah, see? Not so easy," Kara smirked, raising her eyebrows. "But no more hookup talk, I didn't bring you to the freaking roof to talk about Alex."

 _"Alex?"_ Winn squealed, his face heating up at the very naughty visuals that flooded his mind without intention. "Alex, your lifelong best friend and winner of every annual sexiest FBI agent alive award, if there were such an event, _that_ Alex?"

"Yes. And shut up. And she's not actually an FBI agent...that's part of what I have to tell you."

"Okay..." Winn said slowly, the perplexed expression still etched across his face as he stared at his best friend blankly. "Listen, Kara, I have a lot of work to get back to, there's a big headline today in case you hadn't noticed, some flying lady superhero saved a plane while we were drinking beers at Noonan's last night..."

"It was me," Kara blurted out, tired of babbling for once and just cutting right to the chase.

"What was you?" Winn asked blankly, obviously not catching on.

"I'm the flying lady superhero who saved the plane!" Kara beamed, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. Technically, this was the first time she'd ever actually _told_ anyone who she really was. Alex saw her pod crash, her foster parents knew who she was when Kal-El brought her to them, and her dear cousin had also obviously spilled the beans to James, as well. She had never told any of them herself. It was a weird rush of almost painful excitement. Winn was looking at her like she had three heads. Then he started to laugh.

"Okay, good one Kara...that's, yeah, that's funny. Umm, why is that funny?" He frowned in confusion. Kara sighed. He wasn't getting there fast enough. So she walked right up to the very edge of the roof, grinning confidently at him. "Kara, hold on, not so close. Kara, you're gonna hurt yourself..." Winn's voice was nearing hysteria when Kara winked at him, held out her arms, and let herself fall backwards over the edge of the roof. She heard Winn screaming her name in absolute terror, and it was only funny for a second before she started to feel bad for giving her best buddy a heart attack. So she rocketed back up, about fifty feet higher than she'd meant to (she was still learning control, clearly), and did a couple of spinning twists in the air just to show off before she landed again, ten feet in front of him, and calmly straightened her glasses.

"Kara..." Winn's eyes were wide as saucers as he stared at the girl he thought he'd known so well for the past two years. "You're..."

"An alien," Kara shrugged when Winn seemed unable to complete his own thought. "And Alex isn't really an FBI agent, she's a DEO agent—the Department of Extra-Normal Operations. They monitor alien life on earth, most of which is hostile except for me and my cousin. I was always told I had to lay low and pretend to be normal so I wouldn't end up in alien Guantanamo Bay, basically. But last night...the plane...Alex was on that plane, Winn." She looked at him with a pained expression, and all at once the wheels of the young IT director's brain clicked into place, and he understood everything. Kara could see it.

"You're the flying lady who saved the plane," he repeated dumbly.

"This is what I'm saying," Kara nodded with a smirk. "Winn, I don't want to go back to just being Executive Assistant Kara Danvers...my parents sent me here to save people, to protect them, not just go through life using my laser vision to heat up Ms. Grant's lattes every morning. But I can't just let the whole world know my real identity—I'd be putting a target on the back of every person I love for every bad guy on the planet to exploit. That includes you," she added unnecessarily as she paced back and forth in front of him. "I need your help, I need a secret identity like my cousin..."

"Your cousin?" Winn asked blankly. Kara stopped pacing and cocked her head at him with a _duh_ expression. "Your cousin is Superman. Your cousin is _Superman?!"_ Winn was squealing again, and Kara sighed, a mixture of affection and exasperation in her face.

"You know Alex was thirteen years old when she found this stuff out, and she was exponentially more composed than you are right now."

"Right. Sorry. Catching up now. I'm good, I'm good." Winn nodded, and Kara grinned at him, a genuine, full-on Kara Danvers smile, and Winn couldn't help smiling back. This was still the same Kara he'd known for two years. The same Kara he'd do anything for, even if she'd never love him quite the way he wanted, she did love him, he knew that. "So...how can I help?"

…...

Winn spent the rest of the morning discreetly working on design specs for a few options of superhero suits that would serve to protect Kara's identity and allow her to continue saving lives without anyone being any the wiser. James told her quietly that Ms. Grant had demanded he find a way to get a clear shot of "Supergirl" and an exclusive interview, but he assured her that he'd handle it and she shouldn't risk exposing herself. Kara darted around the office like she always did, running errands for Ms. Grant, fetching hardcopy and print layouts, and for one awkward minute, accidentally yelling at her boss over the appropriateness of the name _Supergirl_. She just barely stopped herself from blurting out, _I'm twenty-four years old, I'm not a girl!_ But thankfully she caught herself.

It was just after 1pm when an instant message window popped up on her computer screen. It was from Alex. It just said, _look up_. Kara raised her head and as the elevator doors opened directly across the lobby from her desk. There was Alex, wearing her FBI jacket over the tight black uniform and smirking at her like the cat that ate the canary, holding a large bag of takeout food from Kara's favorite Chinese restaurant.

"Hey," the blonde girl smiled dumbly as Alex crossed the lobby and sat on the edge of her desk. "Aren't you supposed to be out on alien recon?"

"Yup. I am on alien recon. Look, I found one." The dark-haired agent grinned teasingly, dropping her bag by Kara's feet. "I figured you'd be too busy and flustered to take a lunch break today...and I don't want to see what kind of mood you'll be in tonight if you don't eat your weight in takeout. You need your strength for round two." Kara felt her heart start to pound again, all the blissfully overstimulating sense memory that she'd spent the morning trying to push aside leaping to the front of her mind again as her face flushed pink.

"Round two..." she grinned stupidly, standing up and wrapping her arms around Alex's neck. "Can we go home now?"

"I wish," Alex smirked back, slipping her hands around Kara's hips and pulling her even closer. "Can I kiss you at work?"

"If you don't I'm going to throw you off the roof," Kara replied seriously, and for a moment the whole world fell away again as Alex's lips found hers. It was so much tamer than any of the kisses they'd shared last night, aware of the vast number of CatCo employees milling around them in the large executive lobby; but still so tender and intense that Kara felt her knees actually wobble. Alex giggled against her lips.

"You better eat something, bluebird. You are _not_ allowed to be too tired for sex when you come home." Alex winked, and Kara resisted the urge to throw her onto the desk and rip her girlfriend's clothes apart with her bare hands.

"Not possible," Kara smirked. Alex raised a hand and brushed back a strand of blonde hair that had fallen loose from Kara's braid. "Have I told you today that you are the light of my universe?" The blonde girl asked shyly.

"Yes," Alex grinned back, childish delight sparkling in her dark, shining eyes. "But you can tell me again..."

 _"Kira!"_ Ms. Grant's sharp voice cut across the open lobby impatiently. Kara sighed, reluctantly releasing her hold on Alex and once again trying desperately to pull her brain out of the gutter.

"Duty calls," the blonde girl rolled her eyes in the direction of her impatient boss's office.

"Yeah, me too. I should probably get back on the grid before Hank notices I'm taking a girlfriend break." Alex bit her lip, trying to hold back her blissed out, beaming smile; then she leaned in and gave Kara one last, hard kiss on the lips. "Bye angel. I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Lexie," Kara grinned stupidly. Then she frowned. "The DEO doesn't, like, monitor your phone, do they?"

"No," Alex said, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "Why?"

"Because if they were, I couldn't torture you with dirty texts for the rest of the day," Kara teased, grinning wider than ever. "Now go. Save the world. I'll be here booking eyebrow waxing appointments and getting coffee."

"Tease," Alex grinned.

"Thanks for lunch," Kara grinned back.

 _"Kira!_ My espresso isn't going to fetch itself!" Ms. Grant's sharp voice cut through their blissful daze again, and they finally stepped away from each other unwillingly.

"Okay. Bye. For real," Alex sighed, with a little wave, knowing that if she kissed Kara again she'd never make it out the door.

"Bye babe. I fucking love you."

"Me too."

Kara couldn't seem to wipe the dopey teenage grin off her face as she walked into Ms. Grant's office, notepad in hand. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Grant, I was momentarily sidetracked. What can I get you?" The blonde girl asked brightly.

"Yes, I saw what was... _tracking_ you aside. Perhaps you're not as boring as I thought, Kira." Ms. Grant raised an eyebrow, and for a second Kara thought she saw a weird look of approval flash across her unyielding boss's sharp eyes. "Now, I need my 2pm teleconference with Bill Gates pushed back to 5, I flat-out refuse to speak to him until I have at least a quote from Supergirl. Reschedule my shiatsu massage for tomorrow. Call my house and tell my son's babysitter I'll be home late and that he is to have no TV time until his science fair project is completed..." Kara was nodding and writing diligently, getting it all down exactly as Ms. Grant told her. But all the while, there was this whole separate section of her brain that was just reliving Alex's kiss, over and over and over...and somehow, another part of her brain that was thinking just about the giant bag of Chinese takeout waiting for her behind her desk.


	4. You Jump I Jump, Jack

Hello Supergang!

So sorry this update took longer than normal...you don't even KNOW the insane hours I had to work this week, imagine my own personal Cat Grant (if I work late, you work late—the end). I just worked four twelve-hour days in a row. Every night I wanted to come home and write, and I'd open my laptop...and then around 3am I'd suddenly wake up with my computer open in my lap and realize, fuck, this is not happening tonight. Thank God I didn't have to go into the office today. Plz enjoy your next nummy Kalex treat!

A/N: Alex's song at the end of the chap is Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 4: You Jump I Jump, Jack**

…...

After three whole days without getting an interview _or_ a photo of Supergirl to send CatCo's newest brand viral, Kara overheard Ms. Grant telling James he had one more day or he was fired; so she decided a photo that wasn't _too_ close up, but showed her in some kind of cool action-y pose, ought to keep their demanding boss happy at least for a little while. The picture that ended up on the next day's front page (and indeed went viral across every major social media platform in under an hour) was of her descending from the sky with an ambulance held over her head that had been caught in highway gridlock, and was now about to touch down in front of the Emergency Room entrance to National City Hospital. Kara was maybe twelve feet above the ground, not close enough to really see her face with the sunset right behind her; but close enough for everyone to see the now-familiar symbol splashed across her chest that _wasn't_ actually an S, but the sigil of the house of El. Close enough to see her long blonde hair fanning out around her like a halo as she moved through the air. Kara was still incredibly nervous about someone recognizing her, but she knew it was inevitable that if she kept on saving people in public all the time, _someone_ was going to snap a lucky picture of her sooner or later. It might as well be her friend James who got the credit. And he did have a talent for capturing her in her most perfectly badass moments.

"I still think you should have waited longer," Alex sighed anxiously as she sipped her coffee at their favorite table at Noonan's, and Kara took a bite out of her third sticky bun. "There was already a national conversation starting to happen about your heroics _without_ anyone ever actually broadcasting your photo for the whole world to see. I'm trying to keep the DEO off your tracks as much as possible, but I _told_ you three days ago, Hank wants you bagged and tagged for interrogation. I _told_ you, Kara." Alex's voice was anxious, not sounding at all happy to be proven right.

"I know, I know you did. But it's gonna be okay, Lex. Please try to believe that," Kara smiled encouragingly, holding out her hand across the table and waiting patiently for Alex to take it. "They're not gonna have to _bag and tag_ me, okay? I am coming down there myself, on my own terms, by the end of the day today. And once they talk to me—once _Hank_ talks to me, he'll see we're on the same side. As for the rest of the country, they were going to get a look at me sooner or later. I have to trust that these babies," she tapped her lead-lined glasses affectionately, "will hide me in plain sight just as well as they do for my cousin. Please, Lexie...please trust me." The blonde girl was smiling her biggest, sunniest smile, full of confident optimism. Alex tried to hold onto her very practical concerns, but found it impossible to feel any doubts when Kara was smiling at her like that.

"God, I am so whipped," The dark-haired girl groaned, smirking when Kara giggled jubilantly and leaned across the table to kiss her. "You _promise_ you're really coming to the DEO today? Because if they find you first, they are gonna shoot you out of the sky with Kryptonite darts and ask questions later. And _that_ would be very unfortunate, because then I would have to murder all my co-workers and spend my life on the lam." The young agent gave an ironic little half-smile, trying to play off her anxiety for her girlfriend's safety.

"Aww...my big tough protector," Kara cooed delightedly, her food completely forgotten now as she leaned across the table, grazing her fingers playfully over Alex's.

"You jump I jump, Jack," the dark-haired girl smiled back, making no move to take her hand away from Kara's flirtatious fingers across the small coffeehouse table. They were both completely oblivious to the many eyes flickering their way as they flirted shamelessly with each other, from the regular waitstaff who'd known them for years and were silently cheering that they'd finally figured out they were more than friends, to the wide-eyed gazes of most of the male customers staring at the beautiful couple the two young women made, over cold, forgotten cups of coffee.

"I promise," Kara nodded earnestly. "I am coming to..." her voice trailed off into a gasp of pain as she doubled over with her hands pressed to her ears, like someone had just blasted a megaphone right next to her. Alex was beside her in an instant, her hand on Kara's back; Kara could see her lips moving...but all she could hear was Vartox. And with a sickening jolt of guilt, Kara realized that she had only consciously chosen to risk _humans_ recognizing her in photographs. She hadn't stopped to think about other aliens...like the Fort Rozz escapees, the ones her mother had sentenced to eternal banishment...seeing her photographed here on earth, with the proud sigil of the House of El blazed across her chest.

 _"Kara,"_ Alex pleaded, kneeling down in front of her girlfriend now and holding her face in both hands, trying to force eye contact to break her away from whatever auditory overload was currently possessing her. The young DEO agent guessed correctly that some alien broadcast was being piped directly into the blonde girl's ears, on a frequency outside the very limited range of human hearing. And by the pained look in Kara's blue eyes as she sat there hunched over and shaking, it was a pretty damn loud broadcast. People were beginning to look over at their table in a nervous way now, nothing like the googly-eyed staring of a few minutes ago. Alex was on the verge of physically picking her girlfriend up and carrying her out the back door to the alley behind the restaurant, when Kara suddenly gasped and stood bolt upright from her chair, her blue eyes wide with fear as she finally looked back at Alex.

"Kara? What just happened?" Alex asked warily. When Kara looked scared, it usually wasn't for her own sake, but for others. And when Kara got scared about people being in danger...like her entire world, when she'd looked back from her pod and seen it explode into red-hot stardust just before she went into hypersleep...she often didn't think clearly.

"Oh, Rao, it's all my fault Alex," Kara choked, on the verge of hyperventilating as she threw a handful of bills on the table before making a beeline not for the front door, but the alley door, the same one Alex had been ready to carry her out a moment before. The _private_ exit choice, the one you'd make if you were, say, planning to jump into the sky the moment after you walked through it.

 _"Kara!"_ Alex hissed, stalking after the blonde girl angrily and grabbing her hand just as she was headed out the door, knowing she couldn't stop her but refusing to just let her go leaping into danger half-cocked. When _Alex_ got scared, she got _mad._ "What did you just hear?! Tell me where you're going and I'll have a field team meet you there."

"Lexie...you don't understand," Kara shook her head, her eyes growing bright with tears that she refused to let fall. "It's Vartox...he, he, he was part of my Aunt Astra's insane army, he came to Krypton to carry out her murders and now he's _here_ , and he knows _I'm_ here because I let James take my damn picture. He's going to kill everyone in National City if I don't come to him right now. _Alone._ You _cannot_ handle this Alex. No human can. And I will _not_ let him touch you." Kara used just a tiny fraction of her super-strength to pull her hand from Alex's (she may be in the grip of a superhuman panic attack, but she was still clearheaded enough to avoid breaking all her girlfriend's fingers). But Alex just grabbed her again, with both hands this time, and held on tight.

"Kara, _listen_ to me. _You_ are the one who's not prepared to handle this, not alone. This fucker knows that, and he is setting you up. This isn't like carrying planes or ambulances on your back, or pulling burning buildings off firefighters. You _can't_ just rely on your strength, because those intergalactic scumbags are just as strong as you. _And_ they're professional criminals. You do _not_ know how to fight, Kara, not yet, and you know it. You are _not_ indestructible. You're not ready for this, not alone. Tell me where you're going, let the DEO help. _Please."_ Alex was holding onto her arm so tight, if Kara were human she'd be bruising by now. But she wasn't human. She didn't bruise. She didn't bleed. The blonde girl looked into the shining brown eyes she loved more than her own life, and leaned in and kissed her, so fast Alex almost lost her balance. But not her grip.

"Baby...if I have to break your fingers to save your life, I will. Let me go Lexie. _Now."_ Kara's eyes blazed with such certainty, Alex knew in her bones that she had about three seconds before her stupid, brave girl would be in the sky; she could either have the use of her fingers after that point, or not. Alex let go of Kara's arm. In a span of time too short for the human eye to register, Kara shot out of her clothes and up into the clouds, her red cape flashing behind her as she streaked away. In the next moment, Alex was on her phone and running towards her car.

"Vasquez, this is Agent Grey. Search the area for broadband spectrum frequency analysis, look for any unnatural patterns in the last five minutes, and tell Director Henshaw to assemble a field team. _Now._ "

…...

Alex was right. Kara _really_ did not know how to fight. Every time she tried to throw a punch, Vartox reacted faster, and sent her flying through thick concrete silos and huge piles of metal construction beams. Each time, it became a little bit harder to get her breath back. But Kara did not lose an ounce of her determination. Vartox would _not_ be adding humans to the list of species he had murdered, not while Kara Zor-El still drew breath. The shaken superhero picked herself up from the dust of the destroyed concrete wall she'd just been thrown through, and with a scream that was everything she could muster, she flew at him as fast as she could, almost breaking the sound barrier before they collided.

But before she could throw him into the nearby mountainside as she'd intended, he slashed her upper arm with a glowing green blade. _Kryptonite._ Vartox wasn't from Krypton, so it didn't affect him the way it did her. Kara knew from her cousin what it was, but she had never been in its presence before, let alone get cut by a sharpened blade of it. The searing, white-hot pain that shot down her arm made her hands open reflexively, releasing Vartox and sending Kara spinning off course into a pile of huge metal pipes stacked into a pyramid at the edge of the abandoned construction site. She hit the pile so hard, her body dented them like they were tubes of tinfoil. Her vision blurred for a moment, the whole world rocking underneath her like a dizzy sailboat on a stormy sea of pain, her body screaming so loudly that her brain could hardly process a single thought. The one thought she hung onto was a silent prayer that Alex would forgive her for dying. Vartox was walking back over; strutting even, taking his time, knowing full well that the young Kryptonian was not getting up again anytime soon.

Kara's desperate prayer for Alex was so all-consuming in her blinding, pain-filled haze, that when her girlfriend appeared hanging off the side of a black helicopter with some kind of ray gun, blasting huge red bolts at Vartox, the blonde girl was sure she was hallucinating. Even though her eyes told her Vartox was on the ground, unconscious and being cuffed by a team of black-clad agents, she still didn't believe it until Alex was kneeling beside her, probing her bleeding arm with incredibly gentle, loving fingers...the same fingers Kara had been prepared to break not an hour ago. _Dear Rao, I am so stupid._

 _"Ow!"_ The blonde girl shrieked in pain, her arm flinching away without conscious thought. It was automatic. It fucking hurt. "Lexie, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I should have listened to you..." she cried, so weak with pain she couldn't even sit up until Alex slipped a hand behind her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. Kara trembled against her, holding onto the heavy straps of Alex's bulletproof vest.

"It's okay Kar, shh, it's okay baby...I got you, I got you," Alex murmured fiercely, quietly, for Kara's ears only before she pulled out her comm and spoke into it in a very different voice—the voice of a Federal DEO agent in the middle of a bust. "Agent Grey to HQ. The prisoner is secured, sir. I'm bringing in Supergirl, she helped us apprehend the prisoner. Have the nonhuman med team on standby, she's hurt." She didn't wait for a reply before she turned it off and stuck it back in her belt.

"No, I'm okay..." Kara tried to resist; tried to sit up a little on her own even though her head was spinning with dizziness and it felt like she was being stabbed in the ribs just to raise herself a few inches.

"You're not okay, you have Kryptonite poisoning. Stay still and let me rescue you, you big dumb jerk," Alex half-laughed, half-yelled, wiping a few angry tears of relief from her dark eyes.

"But I don't need..." Kara didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before Alex poked her very lightly on her injured arm, about an inch from the inner edge of her bleeding gash. Kara screamed and arched her back reflexively. "Okay, okay...you can keep rescuing me now." She sniffed back her tears and blinked her blue eyes up at her girlfriend with a weak, pouty smile.

"Gee, thanks," Alex replied, making a brave attempt at sarcasm to lighten the mood and distract Kara from her pain. The helicopter hovering above them sent the rope back down, and Alex snapped it onto her field suit's belt, scooping Kara up securely in her arms so they could be pulled up together.

"Lexie...thanks for coming after me," Kara murmured in Alex's ear, one arm wrapped securely around her girlfriend's neck while the other was curled up useless against her chest.

"I already told you," Alex murmured, shifting slightly so her forehead was resting against Kara's, the way they always did when they needed comfort from each other. "You jump I jump, Jack."

…...

Kara must have blacked out before they even reached the helicopter, because the next thing she knew, she was waking up under the bright yellow glow of solar panels encircling her body, warm and soothing despite the brightness of the light as she blinked her blue eyes hazily. She must have made some soft sound of pain or distress—she felt better than she had before she blacked out, but she was still dizzy and her head ached and she didn't know where she was, or where Alex was, or if everyone was okay after the frighteningly destructive fight with Vartox that was all her fault.

"Hey, hey, you're okay Kar. I'm right here," Alex murmured gently, raising one side of the solar panel so she could reach the whimpering blonde girl, taking her hand and stroking a few loose strands of wavy blonde hair back from her face. Kara was too rattled to just lie there, even with Alex at her side, and she immediately sat up and swung her legs over the side of the solar bed, woozy and confused and desperately trying to get her bearings. Her head ached and the room seemed fuzzy and wobbly around her, and she closed her eyes again with a soft groan of pain.

"Alex...something's wrong with me," The blonde girl whined plaintively, making no move to stand up as her head spun dizzily and her legs dangled over the edge of the solar bed.

"Shh, I know baby, you're gonna be okay," Alex hummed soothingly, wrapping both arms around her groggy, disoriented girl and stroking her long hair as Kara dropped her head against the crook of Alex's neck, too dizzy to hold her head up any longer. "The knife Vartox stabbed you with was made of Kryptonite, Kara. You know what happens to your cousin when he gets too close to Kryptonite...and you had it introduced directly into your bloodstream. Not too much, thank God, but enough to give you a pretty good alien hangover. You've been under the solar panels for a couple of hours, but I think you could use a couple more, bluebird. You look like you're gonna pass out again." Alex tilted Kara's head up to assess her pained expression, the pallor of her skin and the dull circles under her tired eyes.

"Oh, Rao..." Kara cursed herself, closing her eyes again and dropping her head miserably back against Alex's neck. "I passed out in front of the whole DEO field team, didn't I?"

"Kind of," Alex half-smiled, relieved that Kara was feeling better enough to be embarrassed. "Come on baby, lay back down, you need your sunshine..." Kara didn't resist as Alex laid her back down on the solar bed and pulled up a chair beside her, holding her hand and stroking her hair again. "Just close you eyes and sleep a little longer, Kar. You're gonna feel better when you wake up, I promise."

"I was so stupid, Lexie..." Kara sniffled, tears of shame welling up in her blue eyes as she squeezed them tightly shut, trying to block out everything that had happened in the last few hours. "I should have listened to you, I wasn't ready...if you hadn't shown up, Vartox could have...he c-could have..." Kara couldn't finish her thought as she started to cry, the weight of the world crashing down on her shoulders as her mind was flooded with images of her city being blown off the map, just like her home planet had been wiped from the sky.

"Kara, it's okay...it's okay," Alex consoled her, brushing the tears from her girlfriend's pale face. "The DEO has been looking for Vatrox for years, and no one else has ever been able to track him. You smoked him out. If it weren't for him seeing you on the news and making contact with you, we might not have found him until it was too late, and he was ready to launch a full-scale global attack. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Kar? I may have saved you, but you saved _everyone_. You drew him out, we took him down. We're a team now, Sunshine. You and me and the DEO. We did it together."

"Really?" Kara whispered, tears still spilling down her pale face.

"Mm-hmm," Alex nodded gently, still running her fingers through Kara's long, shiny blonde hair. Kara wanted to feel better, she knew _Alex_ wanted her to feel better; but she just couldn't, she felt so guilty for putting Alex's team in danger and so ashamed of how easily Vartox had beat the snot out of her, even more ashamed of what kind of first impression the DEO now had of her, a stupid, impulsive child who couldn't handle herself when it mattered most. She just laid there under the solar panels and cried, wanting Alex to climb in next to her and hold her tight, but too ashamed of herself to ask for the comfort she didn't feel she deserved. Alex didn't need to hear Kara ask, though; she knew what her sweet little alien needed, and without a word she hopped onto the solar bed next to Kara and pulled the open panel down, enclosing both of them, and pulling the crying blonde girl tight against her. Kara snuggled up to her gratefully, her tears soaking into Alex's shoulder as their arms wrapped tightly around each other.

"Do you want me to sing you to sleep, honey?" Alex murmured softly. She knew everything they said could be heard in the control room, but she didn't care. She outranked all their asses except for Director Henshaw, and for all his professional bravado, Alex knew he loved her like a daughter. He wasn't about to pull her out of the sunroom when her crying, Kryptonite-poisoned girlfriend needed her. Kara just nodded wordlessly against Alex's neck, sniffling as she buried her face in silky dark hair. Alex trailed her fingers lightly up and down Kara's back, feeling her shake and shiver miserably. Once Kara was feeling better, Alex was going straight down to Vartox's holding cell and punching his alien balls straight up into his intestines and yanking them out his mouth.

"If I lay here...if I just lay here...would you lie with me, and just forget the world?" Alex sang softly, resting one hand in Kara's soft hair and lightly rubbing the back of her neck. "I need your grace, to remind me to find my own...all that I am, all that I ever was, is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see..." The young DEO agent could feel her girlfriend's trembling body relaxing against her, one hand slipping up Alex's shirt to rest against her skin, seeking out more contact, more comfort. Alex held her a little tighter. "If I lay here...if I just lay here...would you lie with me, and just forget the world?"

Twenty minutes after the soft voices of the two young women in the sunroom had gone quiet, Hank Henshaw silently entered the room, unsurprised to find his top agent curled up around National City's mysterious new superhero on the sunbed, fast asleep together. When Alex had first returned to the DEO with the unconscious, bleeding alien girl in her arms, he'd had to put on a big show of being shocked and angry, reaming her out the same as he would any other agent who kept such a huge secret as having a personal relationship with an unknown alien they were actively tracking for interrogation. Agent Grey had been completely unrepentant, and Hank—J'onn, though no living human knew his real name—had been secretly, silently proud of the young agent he had come to think of as a daughter.

He couldn't tell her that he already knew she was keeping Supergirl hidden from them, because then he'd have to explain _how_ he knew, and confessing his own alien origins to Alex or any of his other agents would only put them in the same danger he himself faced every day that he kept his true identity secret. Alex was only trying to protect the one she loved in the same way. He wished he could tell them both the whole truth, and maybe some day it would be safe to do so...but not today. Today, he was content to simply watch over them, using his own telepathy and x-ray vision to assess Supergirl's— _Kara's_ —recovery from her Kryptonite poisoning, pleased to see that the harmful radiation had almost completely cleared from her bloodstream after several hours under the bioengineered solar panels.

Soon enough she'd wake up, and they could begin the lengthy process of official alien interrogation, though Hank already knew how it would end: the DEO was about to get its first official, out-in-the-open alien ally. And once they'd trained her up, once those in power saw what an asset an alien ally for justice and national security could truly be, then maybe, just maybe, someday he'd be able to show the world what he could do, too. He shook his head and gave a little half-smile at the two brave young women asleep under the solar panels, feeling at the same time proud and ashamed that they were already braver than he was...and he was almost three-hundred years older than they were.


	5. El Mayara

Hey heyyyyy! So I guess I'm making up for the long wait on the last chap now, with this lightning-fast update...don't expect another one in two days, I just had both the last chap and this chap planned out together in my mind, and once it's rattling around in there I become slightly possessed and have to get it all out asap. Now it's intermission. Enjoy the gooey Kalex goodness, and another update soon (just not, two days from now soon!) ;-)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 5: El Mayara**

…...

Kara was soaring through the clouds above the rolling mountains outside National City, two huge heat-seeking missiles targeting her flight trail. She glanced back to assess their trajectory, and at the very last minute, she rocketed straight up so fast that the missiles collided with each other.

"Nice," Alex grinned proudly on the ground, watching her girlfriend's field test through a pair of high-powered military binoculars.

"How am I doing so far, chief?" Kara asked Henshaw through her earpiece. "Is all this testing really necessary? Or is it just because I'm"—

"It's not because you're a woman, Ms. Danvers," Hank said gruffly. He was in fact very impressed with the young Kryptonian's prowess in the sky, but he was afraid to express it because he didn't want her becoming overconfident or complacent. She was still brand new to this game, she needed to be sharp every minute, no matter what came at her. "The DEO requires rigorous physical and psychological testing for _all_ its field agents."

"I was going to say _alien_ , sir. Or do you make your other female operatives dodge airborne missiles, too?" She was teasing him now, and they all knew it. He held back his smile, still worried that she was getting way too cocky way too fast. He wasn't going to let her get hurt.

"We have to make sure you're in _full_ control of your powers before we send you into the field, Ms. Danvers. The Fort Rozz aliens you'll be up against have had years to hone their powers. You haven't. Strength, agility, speed..." As he listed her most critical attributes, she narrowed her eyes down at her human team on the ground; and with a little smirk, she rocketed past them so fast, the clear plastic dry-erase board covered with Alex's physics equations that compared Kara's testing results to the Fort Rozz criminals shattered into a million tiny pieces.

"What the hell was that?" Henshaw demanded.

"My girlfriend just broke the sound barrier, sir," Alex grinned smugly. Kara shot straight down from the sky and landed next to her, not even looking winded.

"So, do I pass the test?" The blonde girl asked brightly, addressing the DEO Director, who did not look nearly as cheerful as Kara and Alex did at her impressive display in the sky. "I do have a day job, you know. Ms. Grant isn't exactly known for keeping a loose schedule."

"You pass. For now," Hank nodded, looking up at her from his thick sheaf of paperwork. "Stay sharp, Danvers. I know this seems like fun right now, but remember how you felt when Vartox nearly killed you last week." That took a little of the shine from Kara's blue eyes. "We need to be prepared for anything, any threat, any enemy. And there won't always be time for preparations."

"I understand," Kara nodded seriously, the playful glint gone from her eyes now. "So...can I go to work now?" Hank waved her off, silently dismissing her. Kara turned to Alex and gave her a little half-smile, unsure whether or not to be proud of herself.

"You did great, bluebird. Don't worry about Hank. He's impressed, I can tell. He just doesn't want to see you get hurt. And neither do I," Alex added, wrapping her arms around the blonde girl's neck and kissing her lightly. Kara kissed her back, pulling the dark-haired girl in closer by her hips.

"I like going to work with my girlfriend," Kara grinned against Alex's lips.

"Me too," Alex murmured, winding a lock of Kara's long hair around her finger. "Now go, get to the office before Ms. Grant goes into latte withdrawal and starts firing everyone she makes eye contact with." Kara giggled a little, and with one last kiss, she shot up into the sky. Alex was still smiling smugly to herself when Hank approached her from the open flap of the field tent, his expression all business. The young DEO agent immediately snapped back into professional mode.

"Grey, Vasquez, Henderson. We just got a report of an attack on a chemical processing plant just outside the city, possible extra-terrestrial involvement. Suit up for forensic recon immediately."

"Yes sir," Alex nodded, glancing over at her team as they all pulled on their fake (but undetectably so) FBI jackets and holstered their guns, which looked normal but actually had several different settings for engagement with nonhuman opponents. Even if they were just going on recon, they always had to be prepared for anything—just like Hank had told Kara. "All right people, let's lock and load."

…...

By the time Alex and her team arrived at the murder scene in the chemical plant, the National City PD had already cleared out, giving them the opportunity to speak freely without being overheard by non-DEO civilians. They were just beginning to assess the scene and photograph the odd murder weapon sticking out of the dead security guard's chest, when Kara flew in through a shattered window and landed lightly next to Alex.

"What can I do to help?" she asked earnestly. Hank scowled.

"Who called Supergirl?" He demanded angrily. "I don't remember ordering anyone to call Supergirl."

"I did," Alex said defiantly, raising an eyebrow at him as if daring him to argue back. "We're hunting an alien, sir. She is one. It's an advantage we didn't have before."

 _Yes we did,_ J'onn J'onzz thought to himself with a scowl, but he couldn't say it out loud. As proud as he was of Kara for her bravery, for coming out to the whole world as Supergirl, it still irritated him to be forcibly reminded all the more of his own secrets, each time she used her alien powers openly in front of him. But, he reminded himself, that wasn't her fault.

"All right, all right. Look around, Danvers. Tell us if you see anything useful." Kara nodded, taking in the scene around her, the walls splattered with human blood, the dead man on the floor. As the forensic photographer knelt down beside the dead security guard to snap a picture of the murder weapon, Kara had a sudden, vivid burst of memory of the creature that produced the deadly, icicle-shaped spears from its huge, insect-like mouth. Her mother had sent one to Fort Rozz when Kara was just a child. It was a Hellgrammite. It was probably _this_ Hellgrammite.

"I know what we're looking for," Kara frowned, gazing transfixed at the long, sharp spear being pulled from the dead man's chest. "It's called a Hellgrammite." Before she could say more, her cell phone buzzed in her inner boot pocket. It was Cat Grant's personal _answer me now or you're fired_ ringtone. The blonde girl groaned softly.

"Go, Kara, it's okay. Get back to work, you've missed almost half the day already. We'll call you when we know more," Alex urged her, knowing how important Kara's normal human life was to her. Kara nodded, answering her phone and immediately shooting back into the sky through the broken window and streaking away back to CatCo.

…...

When Kara arrived back at her desk at CatCo just a few minutes later, having changed back into her sundress, cardigan and glasses with not a hair out of place from her neat braid, Winn was the one who looked like he'd just rocketed eight miles through high-altitude winds as he sat disheveled at her desk, desperately trying to handle three different phone calls at once.

"Please don't ever ask me to cover the phones for you again," he begged, looking up at her with an endearingly pitiful expression.

"Totally. Sorry Winn. You're my hero." She winked as she took the phone from his hand, and his stressed out expression was immediately replaced with bashful grin.

"Right, well. Phones, you know. They ring. A lot. What can you do..." He rambled adorably as he stood up and walked the few feet back to his own desk; and Kara sat down just in time to look as if she'd been there all along when Ms. Grant's personal elevator opened, and the demanding boss strutted across the lobby to her office, talking a mile a minute on her cell phone.

"Kira!" She chirped shrilly as she passed by her assistant's desk. Since Ms. Grant didn't actually stop in front of her when she called her name (or at least Ms. Grant's version of her name), Kara took the hint and followed after her boss into the large, glass-walled office, notepad at the ready for whatever instructions the ruthlessly sharp-witted boss had for her.

"Yes, Ms. Grant?"

"It's been a week since we ran the first exclusive photo of Supergirl, and James Olsen has yet to deliver the interview I requested. If the Daily Planet gets to her first, I will have him demoted to the mailroom for the next ten years. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Cat Grant raised one eyebrow impatiently behind her stylish glasses, arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about Supergirl giving out interviews..." Kara tried to laugh it off nervously. The older woman just glared at her in that not-quite-angry, but completely domineering way that somehow made Kara wilt like a neglected houseplant.

"It is not your job, _Kira_ , to tell me what to be worried about," Ms. Grant snapped. "I want that interview, and I want it by the end of the day, or your friend Mr. Olsen will be on mailroom scut for the rest of his career."

"Oh—okay," Kara stuttered nervously. She'd thought that awesome photo of her carrying the ambulance would keep Ms. Grant happy a little longer than _this._ "So—so why are you telling _me?_ "

"Oh, Kira," Ms. Grant sighed, shaking her head as she gracefully seated herself on her comfortable office couch. "Are you really _so_ innocent...or so _gay_...that you don't notice the effect you have on men? Really, Kira?" The older woman raised an eyebrow. Kara felt her face heating up with a bright red blush.

"I, I don't—I didn't—James, he's, he's my friend..." Kara stuttered worse than ever. Cat Grant rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, James is your friend. And that handsome little hobbit who sits at the desk across from you is your friend. And do you _really_ think, if your sexy FBI Barbie were out of the picture, they wouldn't both be tripping over each other to see who could ask you out first?" Ms. Grant tapped her foot. Kara stared at her in absolute befuddlement.

"Ms. Grant, I...I'm not really comfortable discussing my personal life with you..."

"Calm down, Kira, I have no interest in my employees' personal lives. This is business."

"Um...how is this business, exactly?" Kara raised an eyebrow in honest confusion. Cat Grant sighed.

"James Olsen is Superman's only known human friend. Now, I don't know what kind of relationship Superman has with our Supergirl—maybe she's his sister, maybe she's his girlfriend..." Kara wrinkled her nose at that thought, but Ms. Grant was ranting and didn't notice. "But they are connected somehow. That S they both wear isn't a fashion statement, it's a team logo. James can get to Superman. Superman can get to Supergirl. And _you,_ dear little Kira, can get to James." Ms. Grant smiled smugly.

"Oh..." Kara sighed softly.

"Yes. _Oh_. Mr. Olsen has yet to deliver, so now the buck passes to you. I want a sit-down with Supergirl by the end of the day, or you and your friend Mr. Olsen can _both_ enjoy the next decade of your chipper young lives sorting mail. In the _basement_. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Ms. Grant. Very clear," Kara nodded nervously. An interview with Cat Grant...she would just have to pray that the flowing red cape and the giant S blazed across her chest would continue to disguise her from the sharp-eyed older woman in person, as well as it did in photos. She unconsciously reached up and straightened her glasses, as if to make sure they were still there, keeping her hidden in plain sight.

…...

Back at the DEO, Hank and Alex were still trying to figure out what an intergalactic insect wanted with the chemical bomb components he'd stolen from the plant. They'd been going in circles for over an hour when one of the biotechs came racing excitedly into the control room to announce that they'd identified the creature's DNA through a small blood sample, and discovered that his species was not carbon-based like humans, but chlorine-based. Alex's dark eyes widened with dawning comprehension, like she'd just been smacked across the face.

"He's not stealing the chemicals to make a bomb," she gasped, looking at Hank with absolute certainty. "He's _eating_ them."

"Sodium Hydrochloride and Ammonium Nitrate? Sounds delicious," Hank rumbled sarcastically, raising an approving eyebrow at his team's sharp wit and quick thinking. "If this thing is hungry, let's roll out the buffet. Henderson, get on the line and get us a tanker full of those chemicals. Grey, you're on point, assemble a field team. Two Humvees, fully loaded, and six agents."

"And"—Alex began, but Hank cut her off.

 _"Not_ Supergirl. She spent the whole morning in field tests, even _she_ has her limits. If we send her out at less than a hundred percent she could get sloppy, her DEO training has barely begun. I know you don't want to see her get hurt again. Do you, Agent Grey?" Hank folded his arms expectantly over his chest.

"No, sir," Alex sighed. "Vasquez, with me. Let's go." She ran off towards the weapons locker to get the biggest air cannons she could find that would fit inside the military Humvee.

…...

Forty minutes later, Hank and Alex and their field team were driving down a long, deserted stretch of highway far in the hills outside National City, where there were no civilians to injure in the trap they were setting for the Hellgrammite. The two Humvees zipped along the highway on either end of the giant chemical truck, waiting in silence for the hungry, intergalactic insect to make his move once he smelled his food source.

Sure enough, the Hellgrammite landed with a thunk on top of the chemical barrels and opened his huge, frightening mouth to feed. Alex leaned out the window of the racing Humvee and began shooting. Her aim was excellent, but his skin was apparently as bulletproof as Kara's; the bullets only served to annoy him and get his attention. He looked around for the Kryptonian he had been ordered to capture; but she was nowhere to be seen. He decided the annoying human shooting uselessly at him would have to do instead.

With a lighting-fast leap, he shot from the chemical truck to the roof of the Humvee, shooting his slimy insect-daggers from his mouth and inner arms through the roof of the military vehicle. One hit Hank in the chest, diverting all his attention to simply keeping the Humvee from crashing; another shot deep into Alex's leg. She barely had time to scream before the roof above her was ripped open, and the ugly alien grabbed her by the back of her field suit and shot away into the sky with her. She heard Hank yelling her name in the brief moment before she flew high into the sky and over the mountains in the Hellgrammite's clutches. Hank was _not_ looking forward to the phone call he was going to have to make next.

…...

 _"Why wasn't I informed?!"_ Kara yelled—Hank had never heard her yell, but she was yelling now—as she stalked into the DEO, eyes blazing, red cape sweeping behind her. "I was the one who told you what the Hellgrammite was in the first place! _Why_ would you send your team out without me? If you had just _trusted_ me, maybe I could've stopped this! Maybe Alex would be safe!"

"Or maybe you'd be captured or killed, too," Henshaw said grimly, in a much quieter voice. Kara's tense stance softened slightly at his tone; he wasn't angry, he was worried. He cared about Alex's safety too... _and_ about hers, she realized.

"No. Alex is _not_ dead," Kara shook her head viciously, her body blazing with far too much adrenalin to cry. "If he'd wanted her dead, he could have killed her right then and there. He took her somewhere, for a reason."

"Kara, I promise you, we've got every satellite over half the country tracking her," Hank said seriously, putting a hand on her shoulder in silent solidarity. It was the first time he'd called her by her first name.

"And now you've got me," Kara said simply. "You know, Director Henshaw, back on Krypton it was an honor to ask for help, not an embarrassment. Everything we did, we did together. Do you know what this symbol on my chest is?" She pointed to the big red S that wasn't really an S.

"It's your family's coat of arms. The house of El," Hank nodded.

"Yes, but it also symbolizes our family motto—one of the oldest sayings in all of Krypton. _El mayara_ —stronger together." He nodded, and she took his hand, squeezing it as hard as she dared.

"Stronger together," he repeated. "We _will_ find her, Kara."

"Yes we will." Without another word, Kara bolted out of the DEO and up into the sky, closing her eyes as she flew low over the city, listening for the sound of Alex's voice through the noise of four million people, TVs, radios, and airplanes...she tuned out everything, it was all just white noise. _Talk to me, Alex,_ she prayed silently.

While Kara searched, Alex was dumped unceremoniously on the floor of a dirty, abandoned warehouse in front of a woman dressed all in black. Panting, bleeding, the young agent looked up in confusion and disbelief at the figure standing over her. It couldn't be...but it was.

"Alura?" She said in a shocked, pained voice. "How...how can you be here..."

"How do you know that name?" General Astra demanded, caught off guard by this frail, bleeding human who knew more than she ought to.

"I saw a hologram of you...it came in the pod that brought your daughter to earth," Alex panted, the pain in her bleeding leg throbbing horribly, though she refused to cry. She was also clearheaded enough not to say Kara's name, not to let on that she had a personal relationship with Supergirl to their enemies; it would just be one more thing to be exploited. General Astra smiled coyly.

"Kara is not my daughter...she is my niece. Twins on Krypton were rare; Alura and I took great pleasure in confusing our parents."

"Astra," Alex gasped, her face going even whiter than it already was from blood loss. "You...how..."

"You are very brave, young one," the older woman observed as she knelt down and examined the blood flowing from Alex's wounded leg. "Braver than most of your kind. But no less fragile, I'm afraid."

"Supergirl _will_ find me," Alex snarled. Astra smirked and stalked into a darkened corner without a word. Moments later, as if at Alex's summons, Kara crashed though the ceiling and landed directly in front of her.

"Alex! Thank God you're alive," Kara smiled, her blue eyes huge with relief.

"Kara, run, it's a trap"—Alex didn't even get to finish her sentence before Astra crashed into her niece and sent her flying across the room, gouging deep ruts into the concrete floor.

"Look how you've grown, little one," the older woman purred. Kara's face was so shocked, for a moment Alex thought she wasn't going to fight back.

"You don't get to call me that _ever_ again," Kara snarled, blasting her laser-vision at her aunt before the older woman could attack again. Alex tried to get up, to go to Kara's aid; but then the Hellgrammite was back on top of her, obviously acting on Astra's orders to distract her, and suddenly the two young women were both fighting for their lives. The pointy end of the Hellgrammite's self-made dagger was inches from Alex's throat when she managed to knee him in his alien balls, and when he doubled over, she flipped his arm around so he impaled himself on his own dagger, dead before he hit the floor. Across the room, Kara had just sent her aunt flying through the air so hard she crashed out the window at the opposite end of the warehouse. They limped over to each other, Alex trailing blood from her injured leg.

"Are you okay?" Kara choked, wrapping her arms fiercely around her brave girl.

"Yeah," Alex nodded, breathing hard, holding onto Kara just as tight. Then the strongest, iciest wind Alex had ever felt in her life was blowing them off their feet, sending them crashing into the opposite wall again. Astra was back.

"Perhaps I misjudged you, niece," the older woman smiled smugly. "You fight well. You are strong, brave. Come, join my cause little one. Let us be a family again."

 _"She_ is my family," Kara snarled, jumping back to her feet and standing protectively over Alex, who was still battered and shivering on the cold concrete floor. "And if you _ever_ touch her again, if you even _look_ at her, I swear to Rao I will make you wish you'd died on Krypton with the rest of them." Her blue eyes blazed. Astra shook her head sadly.

"Your alliance with the humans is misplaced. I do not wish to kill you, Kara..." Before Astra could carry out her threat, the huge double-doors to the warehouse burst open, and the full DEO field team charged in, guns blazing, with Hank at the lead.

"No weapon you have can hurt me, human," Astra laughed, cocky and self-assured.

"We'll see about that," Hank smirked, unsheathing the glowing green Kryptonite blade that Astra herself had ordered to be forged for Vartox to kill her niece. Hank plunged it into her arm, and with a look of pained shock and horror, Astra streaked away into the sky. Kara knelt back down on the floor, pulling Alex snugly into her arms. The dark-haired girl was still shivering and ice-cold from Astra's freeze breath, and probably a little bit from shock and blood loss, too.

"Where's the med team?!" Kara yelled, pressing her hand over the gash in Alex's leg to staunch the bleeding.

"It's okay, Kara. I'll be f-fine," Alex tried to stutter through her shivering.

"Yeah, that's gonna work on me about as well as it did when I tried to tell _you_ the same thing last week," Kara teased gently, not caring about the tears of relief that were streaking down her face as two DEO medics rushed over to them. "What's my line now...? Oh, yeah—stay still and let me rescue you, you big dumb jerk." She smiled, and Alex laughed a little, despite her pain.

"I knew you'd find me," The dark-haired agent grinned weakly. "El mayara..."

"Stronger together," Kara repeated in English, leaning in and kissing her before the DEO medics lifted Alex up and gently laid her on a stretcher, cutting away the fabric of her pant leg around the gash to assess her injury. But Kara couldn't help noticing how cold Alex's lips were when she kissed her; she was still shivering like she'd just gone swimming in the arctic. Her lips were turning blue. That damn freeze breath had really done a number on her.

"Lowry, can you please make sure my girlfriend doesn't get hypothermia?" Kara asked one of the medics anxiously, holding one of Alex's cold hands in both of her own and rubbing it gently to warm it up.

"You're embarrassing me," Alex grumbled; but she was still smiling weakly, holding tight to Kara's hand.

"Live with it," Kara smirked back, climbing onto the stretcher beside her shivering girlfriend—on Alex's uninjured side, of course—and wrapping her in a tight hug, trying to share her body heat. Alex closed her eyes and pressed her face into Kara's hair, unresisting. No one was stupid enough to try to separate them as the stretcher was wheeled out to the waiting helicopter, and flown back to the DEO.

…...

Kara was still fussing over Alex in the med bay at DEO headquarters when her cell phone rang again—it was James, reminding her that it was time for her to go "pick up" Ms. Grant for her interview. _"Shit,"_ Kara hissed under her breath, pacing back and forth in front of Alex's stretcher as she spoke quietly on her phone. "I can't go _now._.."

"Yes you can, dummy. I'm _fine,_ " Alex rolled her eyes, giving Kara a big, shiny smile as she pointed to her stitched-up leg, that was now being swabbed with antibiotic ointment before getting bandaged up. Her lips had returned to their normal color, and she wasn't shivering anymore, thanks to the warm saline dripping into her veins from the IV beside her stretcher, along with another one hanging beside it giving her a blood transfusion. "Go save your career, babe. I am _not_ gonna listen to you bitch about being stuck in the CatCo mailroom for the next ten years."

"Are you sure, Lexie?" Kara asked anxiously, dropping the phone in her hand as she paced back over to where Alex sat on the edge of the bed, running her fingers lovingly through her girlfriend's dark hair. "You're hurt, you lost so much blood...I don't wanna leave you like this..."

"You're not leaving me, Kar. See all these people? They're pretty good at their jobs. You're pretty good at yours, too. So go do it."

"Okay, okay..." Kara sighed, taking Alex's face in both hands and giving her a very gentle, tender kiss. Then she turned to the DEO medics, her expression suddenly very stern. "Do _not_ let her off this bed until _you_ say she's ready, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am," the lead medic nodded emphatically, eager not to get on Supergirl's bad side. Not to mention, he was awfully fond of Alex, too, and not about to let her walk away with anything less than the best medical care the US government could provide. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of Agent Grey."

"Agent Grey is right here. I'm Agent Grey," Alex grumbled crankily, annoyed at being spoken about in the third person as if she couldn't hear them. "I can decide for myself if I'm okay or not."

"Yes dear," Kara grinned sarcastically, giving her one more slow kiss, grazing her thumb across Alex's cheek. "Be good. Rest."

"Yes dear," Alex parroted back, smiling with equal sarcasm. Then in a flash, Kara was gone.

…...

It was late by the time Kara got home from her interview with Ms. Grant; but not so late that Alex wasn't still waiting up for her, curled up on the couch with her laptop and a cup of hot chocolate. "Hey, you should be sleeping," Kara frowned as she flew in through the window and landed lightly in front of her girlfriend. "And you _definitely_ shouldn't be working."

"Will you _stop_ fussing? I'm fine, Kara. The DEO wouldn't have let me out if I wasn't," Alex huffed impatiently, glancing up from her laptop for a moment and then immediately back down again. "Anyway, I have a shit-ton of paperwork to file on the Hellgrammite bust, and you know it's better if I do it right away while the details are still fresh in my mind." She sniffed and rubbed her nose absently for a moment. It was a tiny sound, to the normal human ear; but not to Kara.

"The paperwork will still be here tomorrow, stubborn girl. You are recovering from a major stab wound, a blood transfusion, and minor hypothermia. _And_ you're catching a cold. No more work." Kara pushed Alex's laptop forcibly shut. Alex scowled at her.

"I am _not,_ " she huffed moodily, opening her laptop again. Kara rolled her eyes. Alex rarely got sick, but when she did, she was awfully grumpy about it.

"You remember the whole thing where I can see inside your body, right?" Kara asked smugly, crossing her arms over her chest. Alex rolled her eyes and made a whiny sound that wasn't actually a word. Kara was ready to keep arguing; but instead she just narrowed her eyes for a moment, sat beside Alex on the couch, and handed her a tissue from the coffee table with a self-satisfied smile.

"Why are you..." Alex trailed off as her eyes snapped shut, and she sneezed breathlessly into the tissue.

"Bless you Lexie," Kara cooed sweetly, leaning in and kissing her girlfriend's forehead. Alex whined and blew her nose.

"Stop using your x-ray eyes to look at my snot," the dark-haired girl grumbled moodily behind her crumpled tissue. "You know I... _*snf!*_...I hate that."

"Only if you put your computer away, go get into PJ's, and let me take your temp," Kara smiled smugly again.

"You suck," Alex whined quietly; but she dropped her head against Kara's arm, with a pathetic little sniffle. Kara stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Can we watch Orphan Black?" Alex asked in a vulnerable, defeated voice that was for Kara's ears alone.

"Yes, baby, we can watch Orphan Black. I'll even let you tell me again why Cosima is sexier than all the other clones even though they're all Tatiana Maslany."

"Okay..." Alex sighed, lifting her head with a pouty, sheepish little smile. "You don't suck."

"I love you too," Kara smiled, leaning in and giving Alex one more kiss, savoring the warmth of her lips that were definitely not hypothermic anymore. "Now scoot. Pajamas. Now."


	6. Protector of Truth, Justice, and Alex

Hi Supergang!

So this chap is completely plotless, sugary-sweet fluff. No plot whatsoever. Plus Kara's singing is a song she actually did sing on Glee; it seemed like a crazy waste not to give her a song you can actually look up on YouTube and watch her sing, even though the songs they chose for her were mostly not the best, in my humble opinion (For the record, I loved Glee with all my heart but it was already ruined by the time Melissa Benoist joined the cast, and that was NOT HER FAULT). The song is You're All I Need to Get By. She does sing it as a duet with her on-screen bf, but it's still very sweet and my favorite pick that seemed appropriate in this context, so watch it on YouTube if you feel so inclined.

Separate note regarding the flashback—I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I never liked the actresses they cast to play young Kara and young Alex. They _barely_ look like adult Kara and Alex, and they're just not cute enough frankly. So since this flashback scene takes place in high school, just picture Melissa Benoist as she was in her Glee days...and as for Alex, if you've never seen her in Grey's Anatomy that is just a crime so go watch! She's 24 when she first joins the show in S5, but she honestly looks even younger, so it's easy to imagine her as a teenager if you see her there. That is all I have to say about teenage Kara and Alex.

Happy weekend, enjoy your Kalex fluff! ;)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 6: Protector of Truth, Justice...and Alex**

…...

Alex didn't sleep well that night, despite being completely exhausted from the fight with Astra and the Hellgrammite, the "mild" hypothermia, and the not-quite-life-threatening levels of blood loss she'd sustained before they'd gotten her back to the DEO for medical triage. And even though Kara took her temp and gave her a dose of NyQuil before they went to sleep, the dark-haired girl kept waking up all through the night, sweating or shivering or both, kicking off all the blankets and then crawling back under them every ten minutes. She started coughing around midnight, and by 5am she sounded like she'd been smoking for thirty years.

Kara sat up with her all night, fussing lovingly over her sweet brave girl who was far too sick and disoriented now to complain. The truth was, though she was cranky and resistant when she felt just a _little_ bit under the weather, Alex loved the way Kara took care of her on those rare occasions when she was really sick. The blonde girl was so loving and attentive and cuddly, and over all they years they'd spent together, Kara knew exactly what made Alex feel better without Alex having to actually ask, which was good, since Alex never _would_ ask. She would just lie there feeling miserable and ashamed of her helplessness until Kara intervened and crawled into bed with her, with medicine or tea or cuddles and lullabies. The fiercely independent young DEO agent had never allowed anyone else to care for her like this, not even her own parents when she was growing up. But with Kara it was impossible not to feel safe, protected, and cherished in a way that just made all her walls come down. It was completely automatic and involuntary.

Around 6am, when Alex's latest round of fever chills had finally broken and she was lying limply on top of her favorite blondie, vaguely half-awake with her head resting on Kara's chest, Kara put aside the cold compress she'd been holding against Alex's forehead and reached for her phone to call Ms. Grant and explain why she wouldn't be in for a few days. She had never once taken a day off from CatCo, aside from the government mandated holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and the Fourth of July; and even though she knew she had a ridiculous amount of paid days off banked by now, she also knew Ms. Grant had no intention of her ever actually using them. The idea of displeasing her demanding but brilliant boss always made Kara a little nervous and queasy; but not this time. Not with Alex sick and injured and lying on top of her with a fever of a hundred and two.

"Kira, please tell me you are calling me at 6am to report a major breaking story that we can use to scoop the Daily Planet before the morning news shows," Ms. Grant's droll voice said in greeting when she picked up Kara's call.

"Um, good morning Ms. Grant," Kara said quietly, one hand still lightly running through Alex's dark hair while the other held the phone to her ear. "I'm so sorry to disturb you so early, but I thought you'd want to know as soon as possible that I won't be in today. Or...or the next several days, actually." She bit her lip, waiting for the Cat-Grant-Bomb to go off.

"It's funny, Kira, but you don't _sound_ like you're dying of ebola," Ms. Grant said sarcastically.

"Well, no, it's not me. It's my girlfriend, Alex—you remember her, right? She's an FBI agent?" _FBI Barbie_ was the term Cat Grant had actually thrown at her when describing Alex, that one very awkward time in her office; but Kara didn't think it wise to bring that up right now. "Well...she was hurt on the job last night. She'll be all right, but she lost a lot of blood, and I just can't leave her, Ms. Grant. I'm sorry." Kara chewed her lip, bracing herself for the telling-off she just knew was coming. She had never missed a day of work. She was not allowed to miss a day of work. But she was anyway.

"Oh...well...this puts me in a bit of an awkward position, doesn't it," Ms. Grant sighed. "I suppose I can't deny you a day or two." Kara frowned. She knew it was going to be more than a day or two. What she _didn't_ know was how to hold her ground against her brilliantly willful and demanding boss. She was _not_ leaving Alex alone until she was better, period; but would Ms. Grant really fire her if she was out of the office for, say, a whole week? Even if she had the vacation days available? She _couldn't_ do that, right?

But in the end, Kara didn't have to come up with her own rebuttal anyway, because she felt Alex's ribcage expand weakly as the dark-haired girl pressed the end of her pajama sleeve across her face and sneezed twice, sounding very sick and congested. Kara handed her a tissue and kissed the top of her head. Ms. Grant gave a little shriek like she'd had a glass of cold water thrown in her face. "What the hell was _that?"_ The older woman demanded, sounding horrified.

"Um...that was Alex?" Kara said uncertainly. She knew her boss was a major germaphobe, but did the woman really think she could catch someone's germs through the _phone?_

"I thought you said she was _injured_. Saving innocent American lives and whatnot."

"She _is_ injured. She was stabbed in the leg and spent half the night bleeding out in a freezing cold warehouse. Not exactly ideal immune-boosting conditions," Kara said slowly, trying very hard not to sound patronizing or sarcastic.

"And now you're covered from head to toe with secondhand microbes of death," Ms. Grant said sharply, as if it were an accusation.

"Oh... _yes_...completely covered. One hundred percent," Kara agreed a little too eagerly, suddenly realizing she should have started with this angle in the first place. Ms. Grant sighed impatiently.

"Very well, I suppose I'll call that horrid temp agency. Don't even _think_ about stepping foot back inside my building until your household is _one hundred percent_ germ-free, Kira. Do you shower with antibacterial soap?"

"Um..."

"Get some. And do _not_ get sick, Kira, that is an order. Wear a surgical mask if you have to. If you bring even _one_ of those microscopic killers into my office you will personally be responsible for the next recession, do you understand?"

"Don't worry, Ms. Grant, I won't get sick. I promise," Kara grinned in relief, knowing her boss couldn't possibly realize the sincerity of that promise.

"Very well," Ms. Grant huffed, sounding only slightly more annoyed than usual, which was better than what Kara had been daring to hope for. "And, Kira?"

"Yes Ms. Grant?"

"Please tell...Alex, was it?"

"Yes," Kara said in slight confusion.

"Tell Alex that CatCo thanks her for her dedication to the safety of National City."

"Oh...thank you, Ms. Grant," the blonde girl said, stunned. "I'll tell her." She hung up her phone and put it on the bedside table.

"...Tell me what?" Alex mumbled croakily without picking up her head from Kara's chest.

"Ms. Grant just gave you her personal thanks for keeping our city's streets safe," Kara smiled gently, her fingers threading lightly through Alex's dark hair again. " _And_ she remembered your damn name. She doesn't even remember my name after two _years."_

"Cool...I'm gonna be way more cocky about that when I can stand up and do stuff again..." Alex trailed off into another painful, congested coughing fit.

"Awww, Lexie..." the blonde girl cooed softly, her hand trailing from Alex's hair down to rub her back. "Poor baby, you're so sick..."

"And stabbed," Alex mumbled sleepily. It didn't even sound like she was complaining; it was more like she was trying to remind herself matter-of-factly, in her feverish haze, why exactly she felt so horrid.

"And stabbed," Kara agreed quietly, with an affectionate little smile that Alex couldn't see. "But you're safe and cozy now, and we're staying right here until you feel all better again. I'm gonna make you a cup of TheraFlu, and then maybe you'll be able to sleep a little longer, hmm baby?"

"'Kay..." Alex murmured woozily, with a little hitch in her voice, and sneezed again. There was a direct relationship between how submissive Alex was to Kara's caretaking, and how sick she was. The fact that the dark-haired girl wasn't whining about how gross TheraFlu tasted or that she didn't really need it anyway told Kara everything she needed to know about what a sorry state her girlfriend was in, and it made her want to give Alex everything in the world that would make her feel better; knowing that whatever she offered, Alex would just say _okay_. She wouldn't actually ask for anything. It was a good thing Kara already knew everything in the world that made Alex feel better when she was sick.

The blonde girl didn't even try to slip out from under her girlfriend's limp, overheated body on the bed, knowing that Alex wouldn't want to be left alone in the bedroom even for a few minutes, though she'd never come right out and say it. So Kara just floated them both gently up into the air, using herself as a living magic carpet, and floating down the hall to the living room, where she gently flipped them over and deposited her girlfriend lightly on the couch, covering her up with the soft, fleecy blanket over the back of one chair that was Alex's favorite, one Kara's foster mom had given them as a housewarming present when they'd moved into this apartment two years ago.

"Thanks," Alex murmured softly, cuddling up to the blanket and holding onto it like it was a temporary substitute for Kara's body, which it was. _One gold star for me,_ Kara thought happily.

"You're welcome baby. Just rest, I'll be right over there in the kitchen, you can still see me." It was a loft-style apartment, with no wall between the kitchen and living room areas. "I'll just be a minute." The blonde girl leaned down and kissed her sniffling girlfriend lightly on the lips, having no fear of her germs.

"Kara..." Alex said sleepily, blinking up at her favorite person in the universe with big, fever-glazed brown eyes.

"What is it, Lexie? What hurts?" Kara asked gently, kneeling down by the edge of the couch and threading her fingers automatically through her girlfriend's dark hair again.

"Nothing...I mean, everything, but...I just love you." They smiled at each other, all the pain and blood and terror of the last twenty four hours suddenly vanishing for an instant. Kara leaned in and pressed her forehead against Alex's, and they both closed their eyes for a moment, their oldest way to soothe each other.

"I love you too," Kara whispered in utter devotion, giving her sweet, woozy girl one last kiss before she got up and went to the kitchen to make her some feel-better goodies. The blonde girl sang to herself while she hustled around the kitchen, knowing it would make Alex feel better to hear her, to hear that she was close. Plus Alex was always soothed by Kara's singing when she was hurt or sick or even just sad, the blonde alien girl had a heartbreakingly beautiful voice on top of all her other superhuman qualities. It was one of the few talents she could actually indulge in during their high school years without drawing suspicion, unlike sports, where she could never risk the possibility of accidentally kicking the ball just a tiny bit too hard and sending it flying across county lines.

"With my arms open wide, I threw away my pride, I'll sacrifice for you, dedicate my life for you...like an eagle protects his nest, for you I'll do my best, stand by you like a tree, dare anybody to try and move me..." While Kara sang to herself (though she was really singing for Alex), she quickly zapped a mug of hot water with her laser eyes and mixed in the bitter tasting medicinal powder packet, adding a ridiculous amount of honey to make it taste better. Then while it cooled for a minute, she made a bowl of instant oatmeal (in the microwave this time—she'd learned the hard way that some foods were too messy to heat up with her alien eyeballs), mixing in a spoonful of peanut butter and a swirl of maple syrup, which was pretty much the only thing Alex would eat when she was sick. All in all it was under four minutes before she was back on the couch with her goodies, depositing them on the coffee table before she gently helped Alex sit up, careful to avoid bumping her injured leg. The dark-haired girl was too dizzy with fever and blood loss to actually sit up straight on her own, but Kara didn't mind being used as living furniture, easily supporting Alex's weight while the dark-haired girl leaned her whole body against Kara's side, taking little sips of the hot medicine and half-spoonfuls of oatmeal.

Without Alex having to ask, Kara picked up the TV remote and put on Orphan Black reruns again, picking up where they'd left off the night before. Alex didn't say anything, but she didn't have to; Kara knew what Alex liked when she was sick. She also knew that Alex didn't really have the energy to talk anyway, so she wouldn't bother making the effort to form words if she was content. This meant Kara didn't have to go through the anxiety of wondering if Alex was annoyed or mad at her or if she liked it, the way she had years ago when they were kids, and Kara had never seen sickness up close—let alone, on someone she loved. The blonde girl actually smiled a little, remembering the first time she saw Alex get sick, in 10th grade, what a nervous wreck she'd been in the beginning, and then how strange and wonderful it had felt when she finally figured out how to make Alex feel better.

It had started small, just like this time, with the sniffles; sixteen year old Alex had been cranky and snappish all day at school, and Kara was at a complete loss as to why. They had a pop quiz in AP Bio, and Alex had a ridiculous meltdown over the fact that she got an A-minus, berating herself all the way down the hall to their next class, almost to the point of tears. Kara tried to comfort her by reminding her that she could have gotten an F on this one little pop quiz without putting a dent in her perfect GPA; but Alex just snapped at her to shut up, realizing a second later that her best friend was no longer walking beside her, but had stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, her blue eyes slowly filling up with tears.

"Kara...shit, I'm sorry, please don't cry," Alex sighed, dropping her backpack defeatedly on the floor and trudging the few feet back to where Kara stood looking at her with hurt and worry and confusion warring in her teary eyes. "I didn't mean it, bluebird. I'm just in a bad mood, it's not your fault..." Alex wrapped her arms around her favorite girl and hugged her tight, the hallways empty now that the bell had rung for third period, and it was just the two of them standing alone.

"Lexie, what's _wrong?_ I don't understand..." Kara shook her head in bewilderment, absolutely hating the tight feeling in her stomach of not being able to help Alex shake off her bad mood. It was a completely new feeling. Kara never had much trouble in the making-Alex-smile department.

"Nothing's _wrong_ , I'm just cranky, Kara. Sometimes people are cranky. What, was everyone in a good mood _all_ the time on Krypton? Did your advanced technology eradicate crankiness?" Alex was scowling again, rubbing her forehead; and Kara definitely knew now that this was not about her. But it had to be about _something_.

"This is sarcasm, right?" Kara joked weakly, trying one more time to get a smile out of her girl. Alex just rolled her eyes...then she turned her head and ducked her face into the crook of her elbow (even though she didn't need to protect Kara from her germs, it was just habit), pitching forward slightly with a shivery sneeze.

 _"Ohhh..."_ Kara sighed, finally realizing what was making her best friend so unaccountably irritable. "Bless you, Lex. You're just getting sick, that's why you're so grumpy. This is sick, right? Why don't we go to the nurse's office and get you some cold medicine?" The blonde girl was smiling sweetly again, rubbing Alex's back lightly, her blue eyes bright with relief as she put the pieces together.

"Jesus, Kara, it was _one_ stupid sneeze. I'm _not_ sick, okay? I just have a headache." Alex snuffled softly and wiped her nose on her sleeve. This time Kara was the one who rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's probably because your sinuses are all stuffed up," the blonde girl sighed gently, narrowing her eyes intently as she looked her best friend up and down. "And your throat is all red, and your lymph nodes are really swollen...don't you want to just take some medicine? It'll make you feel better, right?"

"How do you know what color my throat is?" Alex demanded, crossing her arms moodily over her chest. "Are you using your x-ray eyes on me?"

"Well...yeah," Kara shrugged, not thinking it was a big deal.

"Ugh, Kara, that's gross! I don't want you looking at my snot! Don't _do_ that! Bad alien." Alex smacked her best friend lightly on the shoulder. It wouldn't have hurt her even if she was human, but Kara still gave her a very wounded look. Alex sighed and closed her eyes, cranky and exhausted and now feeling very guilty for putting that hurt look on her sweet blondie's face. "Okay, I'm sorry...I _told_ you I was cranky..."

"It's okay, Lexie...I'm not mad at you, I just want you to _feel_ better. Don't you want to feel better, too? Can't we just go to the nurse's office, please honey?" Kara reached out and tucked a loose lock of dark hair behind Alex's ear, giving her a hopeful, but slightly worried smile, still unsure why her best friend was stubbornly refusing the opportunity for basic medical support, _and_ worried about pissing her off again.

Alex saw the anxiety in Kara's blue eyes, and silently reminded herself that this was the first time Kara had ever seen her get sick...it had been two and a half years since her favorite blonde alien and crashed, literally, into her life, but Alex was so healthy most of the time, she literally hadn't had a cold in all that time. In fact, Kara had never seen _anyone_ get sick, not up close; Alex remembered her best friend specifically telling her that illness on Krypton had been eradicated centuries ago, while they were studying the immune system in 8th grade Biology. The dark-haired girl sighed deeply, suddenly feeling very guilty for her childishly cranky behavior.

"Okay, Kar, I'm sorry. I'm being a jerk. I just hate being sick. We can go to the nurse if it will make you feel better," Alex offered sheepishly, rubbing her forehead again.

"If it will make _me_ feel better?" Kara teased gently, and Alex blushed shamefully and looked down at her feet. She really did hate being sick; it made her feel so vulnerable and defensive, she just wanted to shut everyone out and crawl into a cave, metaphorically speaking. But...there was a little part of her that didn't want to be that way with Kara. She still wanted to crawl into a cave, but now she kind of wanted Kara to crawl in _with_ her.

"Yes, honey, making _you_ feel better will definitely make _me_ feel better," Kara grinned gently, sweeping her hand affectionately through Alex's shiny dark hair. "Come on, crankypuss. Nurse. March."

The Tylenol and decongestants the nurse gave her did seem to make Alex feel a bit better for the rest of the day; she stopped rubbing her forehead and she only sneezed a few times, though she barely touched her lunch and she still seemed spaced out and sleepy in their afternoon classes. Kara continued watching her like a hawk, though she kept her observations to herself, carefully trying to avoid pissing Alex off again with any form of nagging. But seeing her best friend in any kind of physical pain was very distressing to the blonde alien girl, and it gave her a small but persistent nervous stomachache that wouldn't seem to go away. After school, Kara offered to come over and help Alex rest and relax so she could get better; but Alex just wanted to go to sleep, promising she'd text her later when she woke up, just to check in.

But Alex didn't check in. And she didn't come to school the next day...and she didn't answer her phone. Rationally, Kara knew this was not an emergency; but the emotional scars she still carried of seeing her entire world die in front of her eyes was flaring up intensely and making it hard for the blonde girl to be entirely rational. She ditched class for the first time ever, sneaking out through the back entrance to the gym when her x-ray eyes confirmed that no one was there to see her, and discreetly zipping several hundred feet straight up into the sky, above the cloud cover, where she felt reasonably confident she was safely camouflaged for the less than two minute flight from school to Alex's house. She used her x-ray eyes one more time before she descended, making sure the coast was clear; then she floated down to Alex's bedroom window and gently slid it open to crawl inside.

There was Alex, apparently passed out asleep in the middle of her bed, though her laptop was open next to her showing her half-finished English essay on Walt Whitman. Kara carefully put the laptop aside on Alex's desk, kicked off her sneakers, and crawled into bed beside her best friend, lightly touching the back of her hand to Alex's forehead to feel how hot she was. Alex twitched a little, but didn't wake up. Figuring that what the dark haired girl didn't know couldn't annoy her, Kara used her x-ray eyes again, noting that all her symptoms from yesterday looked a lot worse—her throat was raw and red, her lymph nodes were all very tender and swollen, and her entire respiratory system was swimming in congestion.

"Poor Lexie...I'm here," Kara murmured very quietly, snuggling up closer to her favorite girl in the galaxy and slipping one hand lightly into her hair. Still asleep, Alex unconsciously cuddled up to Kara's warm, familiar body, wrapping one arm around her waist and burying her face in long blonde hair. Kara sighed in contentment, her nervous stomachache finally dissolving as she held Alex's feverish body in her arms. She knew it wasn't rational, but she felt safe, just keeping Alex safe. The blonde girl was completely content to just lie there while her best friend slept on top of her; when Alex twitched and whimpered with nightmares, Kara sang to her softly, which always seemed to settle her back down. When Alex coughed in her sleep, Kara rubbed her back.

Finally, after a couple of hours, Alex made a soft, disoriented mumbly sound and opened her eyes, rubbing them a little to make sure she wasn't hallucinating the warm, solid presence of her best friend in her bed. "Hey," Kara smiled gently, stroking Alex's sleep-mussed hair back from her face and kissing her forehead.

"Hey..." Alex croaked softly, too woozy to stop the broad smile that broke across her face as the reality of Kara's warm body underneath her sunk in. "What're you doing...?"

"Skipping school," Kara shrugged, with a completely unrepentant little smile. "You didn't answer your phone, you didn't come to school...I was worried about you."

"You're the sweetest girl in the entire universe...you know that, right?" Alex murmured sleepily, still smiling a little as she put her head back down against Kara's chest, unabashedly enjoying the physical comfort of Kara's affections, one hand running through her dark hair and the other resting warm and solid on her back.

"I just didn't want you to be alone...it was giving me a stomachache," Kara admitted sheepishly, kissing the top of Alex's head. "You're not mad I climbed in your window?"

"Not mad. So not mad," Alex mumbled, still not bothering to pick up her head now that she was snuggled so comfortably on top of her sweet, protective little alien. They laid there together in comfortable silence for a few minutes; then Kara started singing again, knowing Alex liked it because of the way her hands wrapped into the fabric of Kara's shirt, as if Kara had any intention of moving. That was how Alex's mom found them when she came in with a tray of tea, toast and medicine, nearly dropping the whole thing on the floor in shock for a moment.

"Hi Mrs. Grey," Kara smiled a little sheepishly.

"Kara, sweetheart, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Susan Grey half-laughed, half-scolded, having absolutely no idea what the proper parental response to this situation was. "What did you do, climb in the window?" Kara just smiled shyly, hating to lie but unable to tell the truth, she opted out of answering and decided to let the older woman just form her own conclusions. "Well, it's very sweet of you to come check in on Alex, but I can't just let you skip school..."

"Mom, please," Alex whimpered, finally lifting her head a little from Kara's chest to look up at her mother pitifully. Susan Grey sighed in resignation. On the one hand, she knew she ought to send Kara back to school, or at least call her foster mother to let her know where Kara was; but on the other hand, she had never seen her daughter looking so peaceful and content when she was sick in bed, ever. Alex was just like her father when she got sick, a moody, reclusive beast, always refusing any attempts at caregiving beyond basic nutritional sustenance. Yet here she was, curled up in the sweet blonde foster girl's arms and looking like she had no desire to move ever again. She couldn't bring herself to take away her daughter's only comfort...especially combined with the tearful begging that was _so_ not Alex.

"If anyone comes looking...I did _not_ know you were here, understood?" Mrs. Grey said as sternly as she could manage, trying to be an appropriate role model but having a hard time keeping the smile off her face.

"Yes. Absolutely. Thank you," Kara smiled hugely, one hand still running absently through Alex's sleep-mussed hair.

"Thanks Mom," Alex murmured, eyes closing again as she settled back down against Kara's chest.

"Hey, no, don't go back to sleep Lexie. You have tea and medicine and food here," Kara said gently, scratching her nails lightly over Alex's scalp to rouse her a little.

"I don't want it," Alex mumbled sleepily, which was no surprise to her mother, who was prepared for the same gentle-yet-stern argument they had had before, anytime Alex was sick, from the time she was a child.

"Tough beans, snifflebug," Kara smirked gently, sitting up in bed and pulling Alex up with her with surprising ease, Mrs. Grey thought, for such a slight, skinny girl. "Resistance is futile. Open your damn mouth and take your medicine."

"I liked you better when you were just a singing pillow," Alex grumbled, rubbing her sweaty forehead groggily; but she reached for the cold pills and the tea and swallowed them down without comment. Mrs. Grey was completely shocked; it always took her a minimum of ten to fifteen minutes of firm coaxing to get Alex to swallow anything when she was sick.

"Good girl. You get a gold star," Kara murmured playfully, kissing Alex lightly on the cheek.

"Dizzy...back down please," Alex murmured woozily with her eyes closed, dropping her head limply against the crook of Kara's neck. The blonde girl complied quietly, resuming her former position as a living pillow with Alex's head on her chest, one of Kara's hands running soothingly through her hair. They both looked so innocently content, so completely natural, curled up together like that...Susan Grey couldn't help thinking, not for the first time, that she and her husband really ought to make more of an effort to get to know Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers better; because some day they were going to be in-laws.


	7. Christmas Interruptus

Hey all! Thanks for all the great feedback, it really helps keep things moving. Here's another chap, including a special guest star that you might recognize towards the end. It's basically just more fluff. There will be plot again at some point soon, I promise! Kara and Alex are just very happy in Fluffytown at the moment. Enjoy.

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 7: Christmas Interruptus**

…...

Kara landed in the DEO hallway just in time to see the huge, scaly-faced alien prisoner break free from its shackles and pick up each of its two human guards with one hand, throwing them into the wall hard enough to knock them both out instantly. Sirens and red lights began to go off all around them as the DEO control room went into emergency containment mode. Kara flew at the enormous beastly alien as fast as she could, smashing its humongous body against the wall, and fighting as hard as she could to keep the thing from ripping her in half and escaping to the surface. That was when the tiny bluetooth chip embedded in her little gold-plated earring went off, and she tapped it once to answer, knowing exactly who it was.

"Where are you?" Alex demanded anxiously.

"Busy." Kara grunted, slamming the alien behind her against the wall as hard as she could; but it didn't loosen the creature's grip one bit.

"You _promised_ me you'd be back in ten minutes, Kar."

"And I _will_ be. Just...dealing with an escaped prisoner right now..." The creature flipped Kara over and slammed her to the ground; and just as quickly she flipped herself back up again, slamming the beast up into the ceiling.

"Kara, I am _freaking out._ My mom is picking us up at the Midvale train station in like five minutes. She knows we were both on the train because I texted her when we left National City. If I get off the train without you, what am I gonna tell her!? I think I'm having a stroke. Is this what a stroke feels like?" Alex's voice was high-strung and completely tweaked out, which was oddly humorous to Kara for a second when she thought about all the life-and-death situations they'd been in together, and how cool and in-command Alex had always been when facing gigantic terrifying aliens, bullets, knives—even when she was stabbed, she acted like it barely hurt, even though Kara knew it _had_ to hurt. A lot. Alex kept her cool through everything.

"Lex, I've seen you take down a human-sized insect bare-handed. _This_ will be easy, okay babe?"

"Oh, so body-tackling my mom is an option?" Alex asked sarcastically, still sounding more anxious than angry.

"I will be there before the train gets to the station, Alex, I _promise_. But now I gotta go!" Kara tapped her earpiece impatiently as the burly alien prisoner began to get the upper hand; when she couldn't release herself from the creature's strong grip, she just slammed them both down from the ceiling to the floor as hard as she could, so she landed on top of the enormous alien. Its grip finally went limp as it slumped into unconsciousness, and Kara stood up panting.

"Good job, Danvers, thanks for the last-minute assist," Director Henshaw clapped a hand to her shoulder as she stood up. "You all right?"

"Yeah...fine," Kara panted as she stood there for a moment getting her breath back. "He was a tough one..."

"Actually, it's a she."

"Really?" Kara raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Respect." Hank tried to suppress the little chuckle that the blonde girl's casual humor in freakish situations always seemed to bring out. "So, chief, not that this hasn't been fun, but can I go now? Alex is like five minutes away from an aneurism."

"Yes, yes, by all means. You've both earned a break. And Kara?"

"Yes sir?"

"Have a Merry Christmas."

Kara beamed at him and zipped away, shooting up into the sky the second she was above ground again. Though it had taken the train just over four hours to journey from National City to Midvale, Kara shot through the sky across state lines so fast, she touched down on the back of the caboose in only four _minutes_. She could actually see the Midvale Station about two miles down the tracks with her supervision, plenty of time for her to scoot in the back entrance, change back into her human clothes in the tiny rear bathroom, and find her way back to her seat with Alex before the train started to slow down as it pulled into the station.

"Hey," she smiled brightly, sitting down next to Alex and straightening her glasses as if she really had just gone to the bathroom and back in the last ten minutes.

"Fuck me hard, you are lucky you're so damn cute," Alex half-groaned, half-growled, grabbing Kara's arm in anxiety as if to keep her from leaving again. "Because right now that's the only thing keeping me from wanting to murder you."

"Lexie, breathe," Kara cooed gently, reaching up with one hand (the one not held in Alex's death-grip) to stroke her girlfriend's cheek, kissing her lightly. "I'm right here. We're fine. Everything is fine. We're just going home for Christmas like we always do. This is super-normal. I mean...just, just regular normal." Kara smiled sheepishly. Alex groaned and put her head down against Kara's neck, silently trying to pull herself together. Kara spent another minute just running her fingers through Alex's hair, holding her tight, knowing there was nothing else she could say that would calm the other girl down as much as simple skin-to-skin contact would.

Soon the train was slowing down, and the conductor announced Midvale Station. Alex raised her head and sighed deeply. "Better now?" Kara asked, still with one hand in Alex's hair.

"Better," Alex agreed sheepishly, as they both stood up to grab their suitcases. "But this isn't just like every year, Kara. This is the Christmas we're telling our parents we're together...and I _really_ don't think _my_ parents are ready for Supergirl on top of that. If they freak out they could blow your cover...and that's...that's..."

 _"Not_ going to happen," Kara said in a firmly upbeat voice, stopping halfway down the aisle to give Alex a thorough, heart-stopping kiss, the only weapon she had left to stop her girlfriend's panic attack. There were still several more people walking behind them towards the exit, and they would have complained if not for the highly satisfactory visual experience they were now being treated to.

"Okay..." Alex sighed as Kara released her, opening her dark eyes with a goofy, definitely not panicked grin.

"Okay?" Kara teased, raising one eyebrow.

"Come on babe, we're holding up the line," Alex blushed, suddenly realizing they were kind of making out in front of a whole bunch of strangers. Kara giggled happily, pleased with herself for stopping Alex's panic attack (which, granted, she had also caused) as they walked out onto the platform and saw Alex's mom waiting for them, waving cheerfully from beside her Volvo station wagon.

"Girls, it's so good to see you!" Mrs. Grey squealed excitedly, pulling both Alex and Kara into a two-armed hug. "You both look so wonderful," the older woman beamed as she pulled back, taking them both in. Then she frowned slightly. "But you're awfully pale, sweetheart, and I think you're getting a little too thin. Has the lab been working you very hard?" She asked Alex protectively.

"Yeah," Alex shrugged, used to lying to her parents about her career by now but still hating it. Her cover as an FBI agent extended to Midvale as well; but her parents thought her job in the FBI was in a forensics lab, analyzing evidence, not running around in the field risking her life every day.

"That's _not_ why she's pale and skinny," Kara frowned, giving her girlfriend a very stern look, and completely ignoring the _no-please-don't_ look she was getting in return. "She had the flu a couple of weeks ago and I could barely get her to eat anything. Pigging out on homemade goodness is our top priority for this vacation."

 _"Why,_ Kara? Why?" Alex whined, giving her girlfriend a very adolescent look of resentment.

"Because I love you, brat," Kara smirked, about to lean into Alex and kiss her, but then suddenly stopping herself, remembering that that was _not_ the way they'd planned to let their parents know they were a couple now. But they'd better tell them quick because there was _no_ way this hands-off act was something Kara could sustain for any period of time. Especially during _Christmas_.

"Well at least one of you has the good sense to be honest with me," Susan Grey tutted teasingly, patting Kara on the cheek. Kara smiled weakly, hating all the lies they had to tell just as much as Alex did, especially when Mrs. Grey thought she was so honest about everything. "Don't worry, Alex honey, I promise not to make a terrible fuss. As long as you eat and relax and don't take any work calls."

"Gee, is that all?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"Yep. It's official. Christmas is ruined," Kara grinned in childish delight, gleefully teasing her pouting girlfriend now as the reality of home and comfort and all their favorite holiday delights washed over her.

"And _I'm_ the brat," Alex huffed, but she couldn't stop herself from smirking in return. Without thinking, the dark-haired girl leaned in and kissed the girl she loved, everything but Kara's loving smile falling away like dust. It was only a few seconds; but for those few seconds, the entire world was _gone_. Until the little squeak from Alex's mom brought them both crashing back into reality. "Oops," Alex mumbled blankly as she looked back at her mother's round eyes.

"Susan, Mrs. Grey, I'm so sorry, that wasn't how we meant to...it, it was supposed to be..." Kara immediately launched into stuttering and rambling, her cheeks blazing pink.

"Oh, girls! _Finally!_ I'm so happy!" Mrs. Grey gushed and hugged them both again, perhaps a little too hard judging by the very slight, breathless yelp she drew from her daughter.

"Fi...finally?" Kara asked faintly, sure she couldn't possibly have heard that right.

"Kara, sweetheart, please. You've been acting like a married couple since the 7th grade. I thought there was no question you'd both figure it out _some_ time in high school...but you didn't, and once you went to college...well, let's just say I was worried about how long I was going to have to wait for some grandchildren." Mrs. Grey had a very kind, unguarded face, and she beamed at the two of them so genuinely, there was no room for doubt.

"Ohhh...kay," Kara said slowly, her brain racing to catch up with her ears. "Well that's, I mean...yeah."

"I'm gonna black out the grandchildren reference in my memory record of this conversation because, hi? Twenty-four years old over here?" Alex gestured between herself and Kara. "Slow your roll, Mom. And...thanks." The dark-haired girl smiled sheepishly at her mother, who hugged her again and laughed.

 _"Please_ let us tell Dad and the Danvers ourselves, okay? Don't just blurt it out the second we walk in the door," Alex begged, knowing how absolutely terrible her mother was at keeping secrets.

"Please," Kara echoed, unconsciously wrapping her hand together with Alex's and squeezing gently. "We really wanted to tell everyone at once. We don't want anyone's feelings to be hurt."

"Of course, of course," Mrs. Grey beamed, waving them off as she hurried back excitedly to the car, obviously eager to get home so she could celebrate with her future in-laws properly. Kara and Alex grinned shyly at each other as they stowed their suitcases in the trunk.

"Well _that_ didn't go as scripted," Kara giggled, feeling weirdly giddy.

"Nope," Alex agreed. "But now I can do this." She straightened up and took the blonde girl's face in both hands, giving her a very slow kiss as a light dusting of snow began to drift down over them from the sky. "Merry Christmas, bluebird." Mrs. Grey looked up at the rearview mirror and saw them kissing—not intentionally, of course, she was only checking to see if the trunk was closed—but once her eyes landed on the two girls looking so perfectly happy and in love, she couldn't look away. _Finally_ , she thought again smugly.

On the short car ride from the train station to her childhood home, Kara's thoughts drifted back to what Alex's mom had said to her in the parking lot...the part about her and Alex acting like a married couple since the 7th grade. Had they really been that obvious? Kara thought back over her very first day of school, midway through their 7th grade year, with Alex by her side. The two of them had already had a week to get to know each other, while Kara's foster parents took care of all the faked paperwork she'd need to register at Midvale Junior High; during that short time, the two girls had already become more or less inseparable. Alex had introduced her to some of their classmates when Kara came to watch her soccer game one day, but other than that they'd spent most of their afternoons alone together, walking in the woods or just hanging out in one of their bedrooms while Kara ate her weight in ice cream (they were still trying to figure out the best way to keep the young alien nourished, with her lightning-fast metabolism). But Kara had always told herself at the time that this was simply because they couldn't speak freely in front of other people; and they had so much to tell each other, they just couldn't ever seem to stop. So once Kara finally walked through the doors of Midvale Junior High, that one week felt like a year to both of them. They sat together in every class, and then at lunch Alex could see the signs that the cafeteria was too loud for the newly-adapting alien girl; she kept wincing and flinching and closing her eyes as they made their way down the lunch line. So, without even stopping to ask if she wanted to go sit at Alex's regular table and meet more of her friends, Alex steered the blonde girl outside to the courtyard, where there were only a few students, and no walls to contain the echo of a hundred rowdy voices and clanging pots and pans.

"Ohh...thank you," Kara sighed gratefully, following Alex to an empty picnic table and sitting across from her with a contented smile.

"So, what do you think of earthling education so far?" The dark-haired girl asked as she took a bite of mac and cheese.

"I shouldn't say...I think you'll be insulted," the young alien shrugged sheepishly, looking down at her lunch tray.

"Well if you're going to say it's too easy, I'm right there with you," Alex sighed with a roll of her eyes. "By all means, speak freely. What says the delegation from Krypton on the intergalactic education supplementation?" Kara burst out laughing, which made Alex laugh, and for a moment they forgot their lunch and the rest of the school. But then Troy Anderson walked over to them. A week ago, Alex had herself convinced he was the most fascinating and crush-worthy person on the planet; but now she just wanted him to go away so she could keep talking to Kara about intergalactic anything.

"Uh, hey Alex," the tall blonde boy grinned, trying and failing to look aloof. "A bunch of us are going to Gooseneck Beach after school. Wanna come? It'll be cool."

"Oh, uhh...maybe another time, Troy," Alex barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at him. "Have you met Kara yet? Today's her first day here. I think I'm just gonna hang with her after school, make sure she settles in okay."

"Uh, hey," the blonde boy nodded to Kara, blushing a little as he realized he'd completely ignored the blonde girl, which in turn had pissed off Alex. He furiously tried to backpedal. "Kara...nice to meet you. Do you wanna come to the beach after school with us?"

Kara looked over at Alex hopefully, excited about the idea of the ocean. She had not yet seen Earth's oceans. And meeting some more kids in her class was probably a good idea, though she didn't really feel like talking to anyone but Alex so far.

Alex could tell from the look on Kara's face that she wanted to go, so she gave the boy a shrug and a little half-smile. "We'll be there."

…...

Once they got to the beach, Alex was actually glad they'd come, as she had the chance to introduce Kara to everyone she'd planned for them to meet at lunch; _before_ she'd realized that the blonde alien girl was going into massive sensory overload and could not handle the cafeteria for more than three minutes at a time. She felt a little bad for giving all her other friends the brush-off, and it was good that they were all here now, before they had a chance to go home and think that Alex had become a snob.

After Alex had introduced Kara to a couple of different groups of people, she walked over to where a big cooler of sodas was sitting by the edge of the sand, wondering offhandedly if this would be Kara's first time tasting a Coke, and what her reaction might be. She'd left Kara chatting with a few of her new classmates, obviously not needing to cling to Alex to interact with her other peers, which was good for both of them.

But before she'd even fished the sodas she wanted out of the cooler, Troy was walking up to her again, with an uncomfortable chuckle. "Alex, so, um...what's up with the foster kid? She seems kind of...weird." Alex followed his glance over to where Kara stood in the sand, no longer talking to anyone, just tilting her face up toward the sun, looking so peaceful and content as the ocean breeze lightly ruffled her blonde hair. Alex smiled just looking at her. Then she looked back up at Troy, who was chuckling cruelly, like Kara was some kind of freak who had just been let out of her cage for the first time.

"She's not weird. You're just an asshole," Alex spat at him furiously, and marched away. But she smiled again as soon as she got back to Kara, just taking in the blissed-out expression on the blonde girl's face. She was literally soaking up the sun; Alex already knew that that was the source of Kara's (and her cousin Superman's) powers on earth. "What do you think of the beach?" Alex asked her happily, cocking her head to one side with a grin.

"Alex, it's amaaaazing," Kara sighed, her eyes following the progress of the cawing seagulls above the water. "What are those flying things called?" she asked, pointing up.

"Birds?" Alex asked quizzically. "You didn't have birds?"

"Nope," Kara shrugged; then her expression grew wistful. "I could fly with them...but I'm not supposed to." Alex took her hand and squeezed it gently in commiseration. Then her dark eyes lit on a small bluebird sitting in its nest in one of the low trees at the edge of the sand. She smiled, wrapping her arms around Kara's middle and resting her chin on the blonde girl's shoulder from behind.

"See that one?" she murmured, knowing she didn't need to speak at full volume with her lips right next to Kara's ear.

"The blue one?" Kara asked, leaning back into Alex's arms happily.

"Mm-hmm. That's you."

"How come?" Kara asked, the smile clear in her voice even though Alex was standing behind her and couldn't see it.

"Because it matches your eyes...and, you know, it can fly and all." They both giggled for a minute. "You're my bluebird," Alex murmured.

"Okay," Kara sighed happily, content to stay right where she was, maybe forever...until she heard the sound of a horrible crash, and a woman's screams, and a baby crying. She gasped and jolted out of Alex's arms, horrified at the sound of someone in terrible pain and distress, close by.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

Alex hadn't heard it. But Kara couldn't worry about that right now, she couldn't stop to think about her stupid powers and keeping them hidden when someone could be dying. She turned and used her x-ray eyes to see through the woods that separated the beach from the road; and down the bend about a quarter mile was an overturned car, on fire, with a young mother and baby trapped inside. Without a word, Kara ran towards the road, not as fast as she could, but very fast. She could hear Alex calling for her but she couldn't slow down, couldn't stop to explain. She knew Alex would understand once it was over. She ran so fast, she was well out of eyeshot of Alex or any of their other classmates when she rounded the bend and saw the car, leaping fifteen feet up into the air in a graceful arc to land on the door, which was now the top side of the car, and wrenching it off with one hand. She pulled the mother out first, and then went back for the baby, not even attempting to mask her flying when she floated back up and out of the flaming car with the baby in her arms.

"Thank you," the young mother choked, gasping, clutching her baby as Kara handed him over. The young alien nodded in relief, a huge smile lighting up her face. Then she heard Alex screaming her name again. As she turned to look over at her best friend running towards her (and half their class about fifty feet behind her), Kara heard the very tiny, faint sound of the gas tank igniting.

 _"Run!"_ The blonde girl yelled at the young mother, pushing her sideways. Alex was still running towards her. She hadn't heard what Kara heard. She didn't know she was running towards an explosion. "Alex, no, go back!" Kara shrieked; but it was already too late. The car exploded behind her in an enormous fireball, flaming debris of all kinds flying around Kara, some of it hitting her and bouncing off inconsequentially. But the whole side door flew off and smacked straight into Alex. Kara was kneeling at her side in half a second, her elation of moments ago replaced with terror as she saw bright red blood spilling from a gash across Alex's arm.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," Kara sobbed, pulling off her jacket and pressing it against Alex's bleeding arm as hard as she dared.

"It's okay Kara...I'll be okay," Alex assured her, though her breathing was shallow and her voice was tight with pain.

"But you're bleeding..." the blonde girl whimpered tearfully, kneeling down lower as if she was about to scoop Alex up in her arms. "We have to get to a hospital..."

"Kara, _stop!_ Right now! Don't you dare move!" Alex snarled, her terror at the thought of Kara exposing her powers coming out as anger as she barked out the order, praying the blonde girl would follow it. Lord knew, she didn't have to.

"But Alex..."

"No! Think, Kara! I just promised your cousin a week ago that I would keep your secret for _the rest of my life,"_ Alex shook her head, holding Kara's jacket tight against her bleeding arm. It hurt like hell, but she was pretty sure it wasn't too deep. "What do you think will happen to you if the whole world finds out who you are, right here, right now? Do you think they'll just let you stay here in Midvale, and go to public school, and live a normal life? Anyway, I made a promise to _Superman,_ and I am not gonna break it now. Keep your feet on the ground, bluebird. _Please_. I'm _not_ gonna die."

"Alex..." Kara whimpered tearfully, trembling with anxiety and regret and confusion, wanting so much to just scoop the brave girl up into her arms whether she liked it or not, and fly to the closest hospital as fast as possible. But she knew that Alex was right. "I'm sorry," she sniffled, trying not to cry, trying to be brave so Alex could cry, but failing miserably.

"It's okay Kara. It's okay," Alex repeated over and over, as Kara pulled her upright and held onto her protectively until the ambulance came.

By the time they reached the hospital, Kara had gone completely nonverbal, and was just lying curled up in a ball on Alex's uninjured side on the stretcher, hiding her face against Alex's neck with silent tears streaming down her face. While Alex's right arm was being fussed over by two doctors and a paramedic, her left arm was wrapped protectively over Kara, stubbornly refusing to let anyone try to separate them.

"What do we have here?" A third doctor asked as she approached them, youngish, with pale blonde hair and a much kinder and calmer face than any of the others so far. She actually made eye contact with Alex, _and_ she smiled, _and_ it didn't even look fake. Maybe they'd sent her to the ER from the pediatric unit or something, where people are actually supposed to be nice.

"Package deal," the paramedic shrugged, looking annoyed and harassed as he gestured to Kara and Alex. "The blonde one has a death grip. You might want a psych consult."

 _"The blonde one_ has a name," Alex snarled, narrowing her eyes angrily at the insensitive and overworked paramedic. "It's Kara. And she _doesn't_ need a psych consult, she's not crazy, she's just traumatized. Both her parents died in an explosion, okay? _Recently."_ Of course, Alex knew that technically it had been twenty four years since Krypton exploded...but Kara had been in hypersleep for all but the first and last ten minutes of that time, so to her it really had just happened last week. "She saw me get hurt and it scared her, that's all. She'll be okay, she just needs to stay with me. Just let her be." The kind doctor smiled at Alex again, amused by this spunky kid who was so protective of her friend, even while she had a laceration across her entire right forearm that had to hurt a _lot._ She wasn't even _asking_ them to let Kara stay with her; she was _telling_ them.

"Okay," the kind doctor nodded simply, looking up authoritatively at the other adults all working around them. "I don't think Kara's in anyone's way. We can work around her, people. Respect the tiny humans." Alex smiled even though the phrase _tiny humans_ was a bit patronizing, they weren't toddlers or anything. But, it seemed like something she said out of habit, like that was what she called all her patients. Definitely a pediatric doctor.

"Thank you," Alex sighed gratefully, visibly relaxing on the stretcher as all her muscles went limp with relief.

"You can thank me by telling me your name," the doctor smiled hopefully, raising one eyebrow expectantly.

"Alex Grey."

"All right, Alex Grey, I'm Dr. Robbins. I'm going to have someone call your parents, but I don't want you to worry about anything. You have a nasty cut there but it just needs some stitches." _A lot of stitches_ , she thought but didn't say. "No surgery, no hospital admittance. You'll be out of here in a couple of hours, does that sound good?" Alex nodded. "Now, can you tell me Kara's last name so I can call her guardians, too?"

"Danvers. Kara Danvers."

"Danvers..." Dr. Robbins said thoughtfully, cocking her head to one side. Then she leaned down and spoke directly to Kara, which none of the other doctors or nurses or EMTs had bothered to do. "Kara, sweetheart, is your foster mom Dr. Eliza Danvers?" Kara sniffled, and opened her teary blue eyes, actually looking back at the kind doctor and making eye contact. She nodded against Alex's shoulder, still unwilling or unable to speak.

"Well guess what, I know her. We wrote a paper together once. She's a very smart lady," Dr. Robbins smiled, and Kara nodded wordlessly again. "All right, we're getting all the parents and foster parents on the phone, so just sit tight girls. Alex, I'm going to give you a couple of shots to make your arm numb, then we'll get that cut stitched right up, okay?"

"Thank you Dr. Robbins," Alex sighed, feeling very relieved that this would all be over soon. They both heard the blonde girl's stomach rumbling loudly, though Kara still hadn't said a word. Alex snickered a little. It was reassuring to know that her little alien wasn't too traumatized to be hungry. She was _always_ hungry. "Can she get something to eat? Like, a cheeseburger and a milkshake? She has a really fast metabolism, she gets low blood sugar."

"I'm sure we can rustle something up," Dr. Robbins agreed good-naturedly.

"...Thanks," Kara whispered, the first word she'd spoken since they'd gotten in the ambulance.

"Hey...there's my bluebird," Alex smiled, sifting her fingers gently through the blonde alien girl's long hair.

"Hey Lexie," Kara sniffed, relaxing her death grip now that she knew for sure no one was going to try to pull her off Alex's stretcher, and sitting up a little to look at her. "You're...you're okay?"

"Mm-hmm," Alex nodded, cupping Kara's face with her good hand and wiping away a few tears with her thumb. "We're both okay, Kar. We're okay."

Dr. Robbins smiled at both of them, with a little shake of her head. They were so sweet with each other, they were giving her a toothache. They were way too young to be this in love...she wondered if they even realized it.


	8. Family Ties

Hey ho, Supergang!

Thanks for all your continued feedback, it's so much more fun that way. Here's your weekly Kalex fix, enjoy! Slightly more action coming back around in this chap, so as Cat Grant would say... "I advise you to _strap in."_ Lol. :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 8: Family Ties**

…...

It was early afternoon on Christmas Eve, and Kara and Alex were just coming home to the Danvers' house from the Midvale Winter Carnival, their giggling and snowy foot-stomping on the front porch audible to all their parents inside the house, even without the help of super-hearing. When they came in the door they still had snow in their hair, and big fat smiles on their faces.

"Did Kara win the Polar Bear Plunge again?" Mrs. Grey asked affectionately as the two girls shook the snow from their hair and kicked off their boots by the front door.

"Twelve years in a row," Kara grinned proudly, though Alex thought she was a little too smug about this one—it wasn't as if she actually had to put any effort into jumping into the freezing ocean on Christmas Eve and staying in longer than any other _human_ competitors. "Truthfully, half the reason I bother coming home for Christmas every year is to defend my reigning title."

"Yes, Kara certainly has a unique skill set," Dr. Danvers remarked in a would-be casual voice; but she gave her foster daughter a very stern look over Mrs. Grey's head, silently reminding her to keep quiet about her powers in front of her clueless future in-laws. Kara hated lying to Alex's parents, they had already practically been a second set of parents to her for the last twelve years anyway; but she knew Eliza was right, and Alex was right, this was a really big risk and now was not the time to rush into it. The blonde girl sighed and hastily changed the subject.

"Soooo are those pies out of the oven yet? I can definitely smell pie. Hopefully one that's just for me." Kara smiled brightly. Alex laughed and kissed her.

"You just had six funnel cakes and four caramel apples at the festival," the dark-haired girl teased, twisting a lock of Kara's long hair around her finger and giving it an affectionate tug. "Are you planning to leave any holiday treats for the rest of the town?"

"Maybe not the _whole_ town...but definitely for you," Kara smiled, stroking Alex's cheek, which was still pink with cold from the brisk winter weather outside. "You need to eat more, Lexie. You promised. I don't want to be able to see your ribs anymore when we get back to National City." Alex resisted the impulse to crack a Supergirl joke about how Kara could see her ribs no matter how much weight she put on; but she held herself back, hating the secrecy from her parents as much as Kara did.

"I am eating, baby. You've _seen_ me eating. A person doesn't just gain ten pounds in three days, you know," Alex shook her head with an affectionate smile. "Relax...I'm good." Kara narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, then leaned in and kissed her girlfriend slowly, holding her face lovingly in both hands.

"How about if I give you some extra sugar..." She purred, and Alex smiled goofily against her lips.

"Yes please," the dark-haired girl cooed, slipping her winter-chilled hands up the back of Kara's shirt and resting them against her always-warm skin, just another perk of having a solar-powered Kryptonian girlfriend. "I'm always healthier on your extra-sugar diet..." They didn't forget themselves entirely, they knew their parents were still there, the dads sitting by the fireplace and the moms icing Christmas cookies at the dining room table; but that didn't stop them from always having their hands on each other, one way or another. They were kissing so lightly, so relatively tamely, in consideration of their parents; but there was still something about the slow, deliberate, savoring way they connected with each other that was just so intimate, it was almost heartbreaking. That was when a flash went off in their faces, and they both jolted and looked over to see Eliza Danvers taking their picture with a completely unrepentant grin.

 _"Eliza!"_ Kara moaned, sounding about as adolescent as Alex had when _her_ mom found out she was just getting over being sick. _"Right now?_ Really? This is the picture you want to send your friends?" The blonde girl huffed at her foster mom, sounding slightly mortified. Being around their parents, their childhood home, always seemed to have this effect, at least a little. They may be intergalactic, para-military badasses out there in the world...but here in Midvale they were just Kara and Alex, two smartass, goofy kids who'd been climbing in each other's bedroom windows since they were thirteen.

"No, dear. That one was for the grandkids," Eliza smirked.

"Wow, there's been a lot of grandkids talk in the last couple of days," Jeremiah Danvers chuckled as he got up from his seat by the fire and took his wife's phone out of her hands. "How about we all just drink a lot more eggnog, and let the kids be kids for as long as they can? They have the rest of their lives to think about grown-up stuff."

"Yes. Thank you Jeremiah. I am on team Jeremiah," Alex nodded vigorously, practically running across the room to get herself a cup of eggnog to show her accordance with this plan. Kara snickered.

"I'm on team pie," the blonde girl shrugged unrepentantly. "Whoever gives me pie can talk about whatever they want."

…...

In the end, everyone had both eggnog and pie—it _was_ Christmas Eve, after all. True to her wish, Kara got one chocolate pecan pie all to herself, while all the rest of them shared a second, and still had leftovers. Mr. and Mrs. Grey had seen Kara eating like this since she was a kid, and had long ago accepted, in a deliberately passive and not-too-thoughtful way, that the blonde girl simply had an excessively fast metabolism. They turned on the news since nobody really wanted to talk while they were eating pie, anyway; and after some local coverage and boring financial reports, the Midvale Evening News was interrupted by a national breaking bulletin...from CatCo. Of course. Alex almost choked on her eggnog, and Kara jumped up from the table on reflex when they saw the shot now being broadcast on the Danvers' TV screen: Astra, floating alone above National City, calmly gazing around as if she was waiting for something.

"A mysterious woman who seems to have the same powers as Supergirl..." The news anchorwoman was engaged in rampant speculation about what the woman in black might want, what she might be doing there, floating just above the skyscrapers of National City. Kara and Alex looked at each other with the same regretful, but focused expression, their game faces already on.

"There goes Christmas Eve," Kara sighed.

"Right..." Alex nodded hesitantly, looking back and forth between the TV screen and her parents uncertainly. "Kara has to...um, she has to go..." It was unprecedented, really, the instance of Alex not being able to think of the perfect lie instantly to cover their black ops, DEO, alien-hunting trail. But this was their _parents_. This was Christmas Eve. Where could she _possibly_ say Kara suddenly had to run off to?

"Just tell them, Alex," Kara said calmly, taking off her glasses and handing them to her girlfriend for safekeeping.

 _"Kara!"_ Mrs. Danvers said sharply, in her most authoritatively maternal tone. "I think I need to speak to you privately for a moment..."

"There's no time, Eliza," Kara shook her head, reaching across the table and squeezing her foster mother's hand briefly. "I have to go now. I'm sorry. I _have_ to. And everyone in this room is my family...we have to trust each other. Tell them the truth, Alex." Kara leaned in and gave her girlfriend one last kiss for courage before she got up and ran out the door, without her coat, without her winter boots, without her purse, or car keys, or anything. A second later, Alex heard the whoosh of her leaping into flight.

"Okay," Alex sighed determinedly as she turned back to the room, with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression for a moment as she grappled with where to begin. "Mom, Dad, there's something really important you need to know..."

 _"Alex!"_ Eliza Danvers reprimanded sharply, looking angry and scared all at once. "This is not your decision to make."

"I know that," Alex nodded calmly. "But with all due respect, Dr. Danvers, it's not yours anymore either. You raised Kara, and you will _always_ guide her...but she's an adult now. This is her call." Dr. Danvers opened her mouth to argue more, but her husband—the _other_ Dr. Danvers—put a hand on her arm to stop her.

"Alex is right, honey," Jeremiah said gently, squeezing his wife's arm. "I know you're scared. But think what Kara would say if she were here—she'd ask us to have faith in people. Like her friends Winn and James in National City. She trusts them...and she trusts Susan and Thatcher too."

"Oh for goodness sake, someone just tell us what's going on!" Mrs. Grey finally piped up, a mixture of worry and impatience and total confusion in her voice. "What is this big secret about Kara? Where did she just run off to without her coat, on Christmas Eve? There's almost a foot of snow out there." Alex looked from her mother, back to her unofficial mother-in-law, silently asking for her blessing one more time. Eliza just shook her head and closed her eyes, like she was bracing for a high-impact collision.

"Okay Mom...that's a very good question," Alex said slowly, turning her attention back to her parents. "I'm going to tell you something that deep down...deep down, I think you've always known. Where did Kara just run off to in a foot of snow without her coat. How has she won the Polar Bear Plunge every year since we were thirteen. How did she sneak in my bedroom window all those years. I'm _holding her glasses_ in my hand." Alex waved the cute little hipster-ish glasses, which Kara was supposed to be practically blind without, in front of her for emphasis. "You've been watching her eat like a heavyweight boxing champ for over a decade...and she's always as thin as a rail anyway."

"Alexandra, what are you trying to tell us?" Mr. Grey asked in bewilderment, looking completely befuddled. But Alex could see the gears clicking in her mom's head...she was already there. She didn't _want_ to know, but she knew. All of a sudden, Susan Grey just knew.

"Okay, Dad...Kara left here about, what, two minutes ago?" Alex sighed, looking at her watch. "So, in about two _more_ minutes...she's gonna show up here," she pointed at the TV screen, where Astra was still hovering over National City on the live news feed. "And kick some alien ass." Mr. Grey was still staring at his daughter blankly. It was the same look of pure, uncomprehending confusion he'd given her the first time she'd brought home a female date in high school. It wasn't that he thought it was so awful; it was simply that it had never, ever occurred to him. He was the epitome of the absentminded college professor, so smart and somehow so dumb at the same time.

Alex glanced back up at the TV screen, which was now split between the live feed of Astra, and a photo-still of Kara, dressed in her Supergirl uniform, shaking hands with the National City Fire Chief after she'd just lifted a fallen wall off four trapped firefighters. It was a much more close-up shot of her than any James had taken; she was getting so much more notoriety now, it was impossible for them to keep total control over the press. Her face was clearly visible, her bright smile, her twinkling blue eyes.

"Dad...look at her," Alex said gently, gesturing to the TV screen. "You know her." She jokingly held up Kara's glasses over her face on the TV screen. "You've known her since she was thirteen years old." For a long moment, no one spoke.

"Kara..." Thatcher Grey gazed at the screen disbelievingly. "Is...Supergirl?" At that moment, Kara flew into the TV shot where Astra was hovering above National City, and the news feed cut out the split-screen photo of her now that she was there live, and about to do battle with an unknown alien threat (unknown, at least, to the public). Mr. Grey sat back down in his chair, in front of his half-finished slice of pie. Mrs. Grey looked back at her daughter anxiously, and Alex squeezed her hand in reassurance.

"Please be okay with this, guys, because you can't tell anyone...like, ever." Alex bit her lip, waiting for her parents' response.

"Alex, how long have you known about this?" Her father asked after a moment's silence.

"Um...always?" Alex smiled weakly.

"Can I get anyone more eggnog?" Eliza Danvers asked, desperate for the tension to be broken and the moment to be over.

"Screw the eggnog. Scotch?" Her husband asked, raising one eyebrow at the room.

"Yes please," Alex smiled gratefully.

…...

 _"Astra!"_ Kara yelled through the rushing winds above the towering skyscrapers of her city. "What do you want?"

"To speak with you, niece. No troops, no alien army, no fighting. I merely wish you to listen. Your brave one is well, I take it? She is strong. Her wounds were not fatal." Astra smiled, almost approvingly.

"You _don't_ get to talk about her!" Kara screamed, her hands balling up into fists though she restrained herself from throwing the first punch. Kara Zor-El did not _start_ fights. She only finished them.

"I thought I was simply forbidden to touch her or look at her. Now I cannot speak of her, either?" Astra grinned teasingly; but there was warmth in her teasing. Like an aunt, not like an enemy. "I feel as if we were back on Krypton discussing your latest schoolyard crush."

"Don't _do_ that!" Kara yelled, her eyes filling up with tears as she looked at her aunt, and her heart turned inside-out with conflicting emotions. _"Don't_ talk to me like you care. If you cared about me, if you even had a heart, you wouldn't have become a murderer."

"Kara, I swear to you by the name of Rao, I would never have attacked her had I known she was your mate," Astra said earnestly; and Kara actually believed her. Which just made everything harder.

"That doesn't _matter_ , Astra! You've killed people! You killed people before you even left Krypton! What about _their_ families, _their_ children? Did you care about _them?_ I won't let you hurt another person on this planet. Earth is my home now, and I will _not_ let you destroy it!" Kara's eyes blazed, her body was surging with furious adrenalin, desperate for a fight, though she was normally so focused on avoiding physical violence whenever possible.

"Is that what you think, sweet Kara?" Astra asked sadly, shaking her head. "That I came here to _destroy_ Earth? You are wrong, little one, just like your mother. I tried to _save_ Krypton; I might have succeeded had I not been banished. But now we are both here—together, we can save this planet from sharing Krypton's fate." The older woman smiled hopefully, determinedly.

"You're out of your mind," Kara shook her head angrily, her eyes burning with tears. "You can't save a planet by waging war on it."

"You do not know the full story, Kara. You cannot understand," Astra pleaded.

"I understand that you can't kill people to save people," Kara said evenly, regaining her composure as this simple truth flowed out of her, strengthening her moral resolve against someone she once loved, someone she hated that she still loved, someone who looked just like her mother. Astra shook her head sadly.

"Your naïve optimism will be the downfall of this planet...you will fail, just as your mother failed Krypton."

"No. I won't," Kara snarled, punching her aunt so hard she flew almost a quarter mile through the air, smashing into the corner of the CatCo building. She didn't want to start a fight, truly; but her aunt was a dangerous criminal, and Kara couldn't just let her walk away. Astra zoomed back at her in an instant, shooting out her laser vision, and Kara met the beam with her own, both of them trying to blast the other one backwards. They fought their way across the skyline of National City, high-powered news cameras following their progress from the top of the CatCo building.

Back in the Danvers' living room, Mrs. Grey was gripping her future in-law's arm so tightly, Eliza's hand was starting to go numb. They were all staring up at the fight on the TV screen; Kara and the frightening woman in black blasting each other around the sky, crashing into buildings, each hit looking deadly. Alex was on the phone with Hank, speaking in low voices in the corner of the room; but she crossed to the couch and laid a gentle hand on her mother's shoulder.

"Mom, it's okay. I know it's scary to watch. But Kara can handle herself, believe me. Just wait, she'll be back here on the couch in time for Christmas carols and hot chocolate." Alex smiled reassuringly. Her mom just looked up at her wide-eyed.

"I don't know how you stand it," the older woman whispered.

"Susan, when you saw Supergirl on the news—before you knew it was Kara—did you ever worry that she would get hurt, that she would fail?" Eliza Danvers asked gently, knowing that Alex's mom cared for Kara as a second daughter already, the same was she herself cared for Alex. Really, they had all been family for years.

"Never," Mrs. Grey shook her head. They smiled at each other in commiseration.

"Hold onto that," Dr. Danvers advised her, squeezing her hand. "Kara _is_ Supergirl. She didn't just put on a cape and start punching bad guys. She's bulletproof. She can fly. She can shoot lasers out of her eyes. Alex is right...Kara can handle herself." Eliza smiled proudly.

"When she gets back, you really have to tell her that," Alex grinned as she ended her call with Hank, promising to keep each other updated. "She was really worried you wouldn't approve of her coming out as Supergirl and using her powers."

"Well I didn't, at first," Eliza acknowledged, with a wistful expression. "I still saw her as that little orphan girl from across the galaxy... _my_ little girl, who needed to be protected from the world so carefully, for so long."

"And now?" Alex asked curiously.

"Now...I see it's the world that needs Kara's protection. She doesn't need me anymore...she's a hero." Eliza looked proud and sad at the same time.

"You know, superheroes still need their families, too," Alex smiled gently. "Especially when they have warm chocolate-pecan pie waiting upon their return."

"Yes! More pie. I'll make more pie," Eliza jumped up from the couch, thrilled to have something to do.

"I'll help you," Susan offered, the same tone of relief in her voice.

"Alex?" Jeremiah Danvers held up a scotch tumbler to her. "Will you join me and your dad for a drink?"

"God yes," Alex sighed, sitting down and grabbing for the glass. She kept one eye on the fight flickering across the TV screen...but she knew that at the end of the day, Kara would be sitting beside her on the couch again, stuffing her face with pie and regaling them all with tales of her adventures. She clinked glasses with her dad and future father-in-law, and took a big gulp, toasting to Supergirl.

…...

At the same time, in National City, Astra was gaining the upper hand over her niece. They had crashed through three levels of a cement parking garage, hiding them from view of all the news cameras. Kara wasn't technically hurt; but she'd had the wind knocked out of her so hard, she could barely breathe, let alone move. And Astra was on top of her, smiling smugly with a little shake of her head.

"You should have joined me when you had the chance, little one," the older woman murmured, sounding almost regretful as she pulled a glowing green dagger from her belt—the same one Hank had stabbed her with the night Alex got hurt, and Vartox had stabbed Kara with before that. The Kryptonite blade seemed, to Kara, to pulse as it glowed; and each pulse made her head feel like it was being chopped in half, her muscles going weak and limp. The blonde girl looked up at her aunt incredulously; the older woman was still smiling, looking completely unaffected as she drew the blade closer to Kara's skin, as if trying to decide where to stab her.

"How...is it...not affecting you," Kara managed to choke out, half-blinded by pain and still not getting a full breath since crashing through three stories of concrete. Astra smiled smugly as she gestured to what Kara had thought was just a piece of jewelry, two small glowing blue crystals connected by a thin silver chain across one side of her chest.

"A little something Non created for us. You see, no force on this planet can stop my army now." The woman who looked just like Kara's mother gazed down at her with the Kryptonite blade held right up to Kara's throat, a flick of the wrist away from spilling the blonde girl's life all over the cold, broken chunks of cement surrounding them.

"I still love you," Kara choked, her eyes going slightly out of focus with dizziness from the proximity of the Kryptonite pressed against her skin. "Even...if you kill me...I still love you..." Her breath was shallow and shaky; she wasn't even trying to get up, she couldn't. The whole world was spinning, she couldn't even tell which _way_ was up. "Alex...I'm so sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes. She waited...but nothing happened. Astra was just sitting there, pinning her to the ground with the glowing green blade held right up to her throat; but she wasn't moving. Finally, after about twenty seconds that felt like a lifetime of pain to Kara, her aunt pulled the blade away and put it back in its lead-lined case on her belt. The blonde girl gasped in a full breath of air, finally, and started to cough, half-choking from oxygen deprivation. Astra wasn't going to kill her. She couldn't do it.

"Do not confuse my kindness for weakness, niece," Astra said, but Kara could hear the regret in her voice, the uncertainty. "Myriad cannot be stopped. If you stand against Non, he will kill you."

"But not today," Kara panted weakly, her vision coming back into focus as the Kryptonite's glowing aura was extinguished from the air around her. She gave her aunt a wobbly smile. Astra looked determinedly away, but Kara could still see the tears in her eyes.

"Not today," the older woman agreed tonelessly. Then, without warning, she shot into the air, through the three-story hole in the parking garage and away into the sky. Kara slumped backwards against the pavement, panting, and tapped at her tiny bluetooth earring.

"Alex...will you please...send Hank...to come and get me?"

The last time Kara had had an encounter with that Kryptonite blade, she had needed five hours under the solar panels in the DEO before she began to feel like herself again; but that time it had sliced her skin and entered her bloodstream, giving her a much higher dose of exposure than simply having the thing close to her, even touching her, for just a few moments. It barely took an hour this time before Kara pushed one of the side panels up and climbed out, steadying herself slightly as she walked out of the sunroom.

"Hey, hey, take it easy tiger. Let one of the docs look you over before you start walking around the place like someone who _didn't_ get rolled in here on a stretcher an hour ago," Hank Henshaw teased his young protege with a poorly suppressed smile. Kara knew he was proud of her. But she also knew that her family was waiting for her back in Midvale; waiting to see if she was okay, waiting to see if they would be together for Christmas Eve.

"I'm okay, chief. It's not like last time, I only got a little bit of radiation. I just wanna get home for Christmas before it's over." Kara smiled, making a brave attempt at looking normal though she was still slightly pale and queasy-looking. The emotional turmoil of almost being murdered by her once-beloved aunt was making her feel sick to her stomach, too, but Hank— _J'onn_ —didn't know the extent of this, since his telepathy didn't work on Kryptonians. He did know that being forced to do battle with one of her last two remaining blood relations had to be taking a toll on her, though; a person didn't need telepathy to see _that_.

"One scan. Five minutes. Then I won't have to worry about you falling out of the sky halfway back to Midvale," Hank teased her gently, clapping a hand to her shoulder. Kara rolled her eyes, but she still smiled weakly, knowing how much he cared for her safety.

"One scan," she agreed grudgingly.

Ten minutes later, she was floating through her childhood bedroom window again, just like she had done so many times in high school after sneaking out to spend the night in Alex's bed, and sneaking back to her own house just before daybreak. They had never done anything sexual back then; they just slept better together than they did apart. Alex's heartbeat was Kara's lullaby, and Kara's soft singing never failed to wipe away all of Alex's nighttime worries. The blonde girl smiled wistfully at the long-ago memories as she slipped in through the window and closed it gently behind her. She may have climbed in this window a thousand times before; but never dressed as Supergirl. She padded lightly down the stairs, smelling the fresh baked pies before she even got to the landing.

"Hey," she smiled at her family tentatively as she reached the bottom of the stairs, one hand hanging onto the railing uncertainly, like a sheepish child unsure of how much trouble she was in. She needn't have worried—everyone jumped up at once to greet her, and she was immediately engulfed in emotional hugs that would've left a normal person gasping for air.

"So...just to be clear...no one's mad at me?" The blonde girl asked, with a shy smile as she looked around at them all. They didn't _look_ mad.

"Sweetheart, how could we be mad at you for being a superhero?" Mrs. Grey asked, beaming as she patted Kara affectionately on the cheek. "We're all just so proud of you. And glad you're back home safe and sound."

"Eliza?" Kara looked at her foster mom tentatively. They'd talked about her new life as Supergirl a few times on the phone over the last few months, but this was the first time they'd actually seen her decked out in her superhero uniform, as iconic and larger-than-life as her cousin in Metropolis.

"You've always looked good in blue," Dr. Danvers joked, smiling with a shake of her head. Kara beamed. "Oh! We have more pie. Do you want more pie, sweetie?"

"Thanks...maybe later," Kara sighed, still feeling drained and slightly nauseous from the fight, the Kryptonite, and the intense emotions of her aunt trying to kill her, and then losing heart. Kara would never lose heart. She could save her aunt from the darkness, she just knew it. She had to find a way.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Danvers, Mrs. Grey and Alex all asked at once, alarmed to hear the blonde girl saying no to food, especially her favorite pie fresh from the oven. Kara chuckled a little.

"Nothing, I'm just tired. Can we just...sit by the fireplace for a while? I flew over 800 miles today. I need a break."

"Sure, baby," Alex murmured protectively, stroking Kara's long hair back from her face and kissing her forehead. "Do you want a fire, hmm?" In answer, Kara just looked over at the fireplace, already stacked with a few logs waiting to be lit, and zapped them with her laser eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Grey both jumped for a second, having never seen Kara's powers displayed up-close before. But it certainly did cut down on fire-building time, and they all gathered cheerfully around the Danvers' fireplace with cocoa and Christmas cookies. Eliza turned the radio on to the local Midvale station playing its traditional Christmas Eve carols, and Kara curled up on the couch with her head in Alex's lap, exhausted.

"Do you wanna change out of your uniform, bluebird?" Alex asked gently, her hands already threading soothingly through Kara's hair. "I think you'll be more comfy in your PJ's..."

"In a minute," Kara murmured. But in a minute, she was fast asleep, snug and warm in Alex's lap with the comforting, familiar sounds of the holidays and her childhood home all around her.


	9. Adventures in Babysitting

Hey kids!

This is a very long chapter so I'm not going to waste any space with introductions. On with the Kalex! Yay! :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 9: Adventures in Babysitting**

…...

"Kira. Cancel my plane tickets and hotel booking for Metropolis this weekend." Ms. Grant's voice was just a shade more shrill than usual, which for once Kara felt was completely justified—this trip to Metropolis wasn't for pleasure, it was to accept the prestigious Ginsburg Prize for Outstanding Women in Media. It was practically the Oscars for digital journalism.

"But Ms. Grant, you have to go! The _Ginsburg Prize!_ It's the first year you've beaten Lois Lane!" Kara exclaimed, her blue eyes going wide with a combination of pride and excitement. Her boss may be a handful, but she was also an incredible mentor and role model, a progressive feminist leader, and a bigger asset to National City than anyone realized, in Kara's opinion.

"Yes, and don't think I wouldn't love to rub her little freckled nose in it," Ms. Grant sighed, taking a stack of pages fresh from the printer on her desk, stacking them neatly together, and handing them to Kara to be finalized. "But my babysitter just cancelled, some nonsense about food poisoning. And my mother has once again lived _down_ to my expectations by prioritizing yet _another_ South American cruise with the Nobel Prize winner of the month club over the chance to spent one single weekend with her grandson. So." The older woman glared up at Kara cooly, as if all of this misfortune were somehow her fault. "Bookings. Cancel. But first bring me my Lexipro and a Diet Coke. _Cold."_

"Of course, Ms. Grant, right away—but, you know, if it's not too presumptuous—this award is such a huge honor, and you deserve to be there on that stage to receive it—and, well, I'd be happy to watch Carter for the weekend." Kara babbled awkwardly, with the same bright smile she gave most people most of the time; but Ms. Grant still narrowed her eyes at her assistant suspiciously.

"What do you want, Kira?" The older woman asked in a calm, measured tone, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"Nothing!" Kara shook her head in mild shock, trying not to roll her eyes at her boss's trademark cynicism. "You know that thing where people sometimes just want to help other people?"

"So I'll owe you a favor you can cash in on anytime in the future," Ms. Grant said thoughtfully, almost approvingly. Kara was about to protest again, but Ms. Grant's next words cut her off. "This is a side of you I haven't seen before, Kira. I like it. You have experience with children, I take it?"

"Oh, yes, tons," Kara nodded, weirdly pleased at Ms. Grant's reaction even though it wasn't for the right reasons. "I babysat practically half the kids in my town in high school. Seriously, you can call any family in Midvale who had kids under age 12 from 2005 to 2009..."

"All right, all right, I'm not vetting you for a seat on the Supreme Court," Ms. Grant rolled her eyes, which Kara had noticed she sometimes did when she simply didn't want to admit she was pleased about something. "What about CPR and First Aid Certifications?"

"Yes."

"Infant or adult?"

"Both," Kara smiled calmly, feeling pretty good about herself right now. She could see it in her boss's eyes; the approval, the realization that her assistant was in fact as ready-for-anything as she herself was.

"Well, all right then... _don't_ cancel my travel arrangements," Ms. Grant said slowly, returning Kara's smile for about half a second. "Carter's school gets out at 3pm sharp, I'll call the office and have them put you on his pickup list. I'll text you the address and a list of his afternoon activities. There are to be absolutely _no_ video games after 8pm or he'll never go to sleep. You can order takeout for dinner, Carter will tell you which places we like. Nothing fried of course. There's money in the cookie jar in the hall pantry..." Kara nodded along as Ms. Grant spoke, diligently writing all her notes down the same as she would if Ms. Grant were briefing her for a videochat with Tokyo. But strangely, Kara felt even more proud of herself right now than she did when she prepared Ms. Grant for global communications videoconferences or interviews with the White House Press Secretary. Those things were all incredibly important...but this was Ms. Grant's child, her _only_ child. And she was entrusting him to Kara.

"Did you get all that?" Ms. Grant asked impatiently, already packing folders of documents into her briefcase to bring along on the plane.

"Yes Ms. Grant. Don't worry about Carter, I'll take good care of him. He wouldn't be safer with Supergirl." Cat Grant paused from rustling around her desk and looked up at her assistant with a wry expression, one eyebrow raised inscrutably.

"Calm down, Kira. Don't oversell it. And Kira..."

"Yes?"

"Carter is...well, he's a brilliant boy, but sensitive. He requires a calm environment and a gentle touch. He'll be a bit withdrawn, but you shouldn't take that personally. He's just...cautious with new people. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"Of course," Kara nodded, with a little half-smile. "I can certainly relate to that...when I first came to—( _don't say 'this planet,' dummy!_ ),—to my foster parents, I was the same way. I understand." Ms. Grant looked up with one eyebrow raised.

"You have foster parents? That's mildly interesting," the older woman said calmly, as if she were debriefing her department heads on story pitches.

"Well, yes ma'am. Both my parents died in an...an explosion...when I was thirteen." Ms. Grant looked up at her, concern and even protectiveness rising up in her pale aqua-blue eyes. Kara was genuinely surprised at that.

"Oh...I'm so sorry," was all the other woman said, and continued packing up her desk for her trip to Metropolis.

"Well it was a long time ago, and I got adopted by a wonderful family. They're my parents too, you know? They gave me a great life. And if I'd never moved to Midvale, I'd never have met Alex...so everything worked out the way it was meant to, I think." Kara smiled wistfully. She still missed Krypton, but the pain of those memories had softened over time, until all that was left to remember was the love.

"Sometime, Kira...I'm going to take you out for a martini and you're going to tell me all about this Charles Dickens novel that is the life of Kira Danvers."

 _"Kara,"_ the blonde girl gently corrected her boss for the millionth time. But Ms. Grant was already past her and blowing out the office door.

"3pm sharp, Kira! Tell Carter I love him!"

"Yes, Ms. Grant," Kara sighed quietly as the elevator doors closed and her boss was whisked from sight. With a little half-grin, Kara tapped her bluetooth earring.

"Well hello my little ball of sunshine," Alex's voice picked up, and Kara smiled, already hearing the matching smile in her girlfriend's voice. "What's up? Supergirl emergency, or you need five pounds of chocolate right now emergency?"

"No emergency. But if you should _happen_ to pass five pounds of chocolate on your way home..." They both giggled a little. Chocolate was definitely happening now. "Um, actually, I was just calling to see if you think you'll be staying late at work tonight."

"Nope, I don't think so. Why?"

"Wellll..." Kara drew out the word, remembering all the times she'd asked Alex this question in high school, with a weird little twitch of goofy excitement and nostalgia in the pit of her stomach. "Wanna come babysit with me?"

…...

Kara was running late to pick Carter up from school. Of course. Between seeing Ms. Grant off to the airport, finishing all her CatCo duties, and picking Carter up, she _also_ had to put in a Supergirl appearance at the DEO, where Lois Lane's father, General Sam Lane, showed up with his other daughter, Lucy, as military council (also ex-girlfriend of James; and now that Kara was seeing her live in person, she decided on the spot to knock some sense into her friend and get him the hell back together with this smart, hot, very much in-command and sexy-smelling lawyer chick).

With an Executive Order signed by the President herself, General Lane had ordered Kara to fight the Red Tornado, a prototype combat android that one of the Pentagon's top researchers had been developing to fight insurgents. Alex and Hank both immediately started arguing with the smug, self-satisfied General, questioning the constitutionality of an Executive Order being issued to a private citizen, not a military or government body; but Kara stopped them, agreeing to fight the thing, not worried in the slightest that it wouldn't go her way. She loved her boss and her girlfriend for wanting to protect her, but this was a no-brainer, it wasn't even worth the argument.

The red android actually took a lot more out of Kara than she wanted to admit; but it still took less than five minutes for her to rip one of its arms off, with the help of her freeze breath to make the metal brittle. As soon as the appendage in question went flying over their heads and landed in the back of the military truck behind them, General Lane called off the test. The blonde girl smiled in relief. But then the blank-eyed machine stood up again, ignoring its creator's command to power down. General Lane was yelling at Dr. Morrow, and Kara was backing up protectively in front of her DEO field team, ready to defend them should the android launch a new attack. But the thing just spun up into the air in a tornado of wind from its lower body, propelling it high into the sky and out of sight in seconds.

"What the hell just happened?" General Lane demanded pompously, looking at his scientist, Dr. Morrow, for answers.

"Supergirl's destruction of Red Tornado's molecular integrity must have triggered its self-defense response. I can't turn it off," the military scientist shook his head frantically, more distressed at the loss of his toy than the fact that a dangerous, malfunctioning military android had just been released on National City.

"This is _your_ fault!" General Lane roared at Kara, pointing his big beefy finger at her like a gun. "You think this country needs aliens to defend it because you're so damn strong—but look what happens. You can't _control_ your strength, and now because of you there's a dangerous military robot on the loose that could take innocent American lives!"

 _"My_ fault?" Kara exclaimed back at him, her blue eyes blazing so ferociously that Alex reached out a hand and gently held Kara back, just above the crook of her elbow. It wouldn't stop her if she didn't want to be stopped, of course; but it was enough to remind her that she had a whole team at her back, she had Alex at her side. She didn't need to justify herself to anyone. _"You_ came here uninvited and _ordered_ me to fight this thing. So I did, and now your toy is broken and you don't know how to stop it from going on a killing spree. Looks to me like the Armed Forces needs the DEO today, General." Kara crossed her arms over her chest and stood back a little smugly.

"That's my girl," Alex whispered, so quietly no one could possibly hear. Except Kara, who smiled. General Lane harrumphed and blustered for another minute, then impatiently agreed that the DEO "could help" apprehend the rogue android if Director Henshaw would report to him until the android was recovered. That was when Kara's watch alarm went off to remind her it was time to pick up Carter from school. She gave Alex an absolutely terrified look, more terrified than when she'd been fighting the rogue robot.

"Go, go. I'll meet up with you later," Alex assured her, and without uttering a single word, Kara shot off into the sky, cracking the glass in all the military Humvees when she broke the sound barrier. Alex tried not to smirk too obviously.

Kara zipped down into the bushes in front of Carter's school just as the bell rang; and about fifteen seconds later, she was walking out from behind the large shrubbery, back in her human clothes, sundress and cardigan and glasses all perfectly in place. She felt a bit flustered after the hasty exit she'd just made, with a rogue military android on the loose, regardless of whose "fault" it was; but she had to remind herself that she was just one person, Super or not. The military and the DEO were on the android case now. And _she_ was on babysitting duty. She saw Ms. Grant's son walking slowly out the front doors to the fancy school and shuffling in her general direction, his head pointing straight down at his shoes. She wondered how he could even see where he was going.

"Carter, hey! I'm Kara. Do you remember me, from your mom's office?" She asked brightly, bending down a little to try and make eye contact. He just kept looking at his feet. He was skinny, like his mother, but with strong bone structure...also like his mother...and when he finally looked up, he had the same sharply intelligent blue eyes. But he still stayed nervously silent.

"This is a pretty good school, huh?" Kara remarked casually, looking around the ornate marble entrance hall and the well manicured grounds of the fancy prep school. "I'm surprised they haven't taught you how to speak out loud yet." That finally got a smile out of the kid, and he looked up at Kara and made eye contact. Once he did, the warmth and friendliness he saw in her eyes was undeniable, and the boy seemed to relax a little in his perfectly pressed Chinos.

"You're funny," he said shyly.

"Well thank you, I was working on that one all afternoon," Kara joked with a smile, giving him a little wink. He smiled back. "So I know you have all these activities you're supposed to do, but I kind of have to get back to your mom's office for a little while..." _Because I spent half the afternoon ignoring my own work so I could go fight a rogue military robot,_ she thought but didn't say.

"Yeah, that's totally okay, I don't mind skipping soccer and band for one day." Carter's smile got even bigger, and Kara had the distinct impression that his mother was deliberately over-scheduling him in a desperate attempt to make him more social with his peers; but all it was really accomplishing was making him dread it all the more.

"Just don't tell your mom, okay?"

"Deal," he nodded, still with a smile on his face. "Can we stop for ice cream on the way back to the office?"

"You're lucky I am physically incapable of saying no to ice cream," the blonde girl teased, and Carter actually laughed. At least _something_ in Kara's day was going right.

…...

Once they got back to the office with their ice cream, Kara was again unsure of what to do with Carter while she worked. It was Friday, so it seemed cruel to ask him to do his homework right away; but she wasn't sure what else to suggest. Then she looked over at Winn's desk, covered with toy comic book heroes and dinosaurs, and remembered something.

"Hey! Winn. Buddy," she smiled her most charming, bright-eyed smile. Winn looked at her like she had three heads.

"Okay, whatever you're doing right now, stop, because you're creeping me out," Winn said, raising an eyebrow at his friend in confusion. "What do you want, Kara?"

"I know you're busy but I'm babysitting Ms. Grant's son and I have no idea what to do with him and I have at least two more hours of work to do tonight because I spent the afternoon fighting a stupid military android," Kara rambled out in a rush. Someone else might not have been able to follow her freakishly fast-paced train of thought, but Winn was used to it. "So can you please do that thing in Ms. Grant's office that you do when she's not here and make all the screens behind her desk link up into one giant screen, and play some video games with Carter until I'm ready to take him home?" She smiled at him again, but it was a real smile this time, not an attempt to be charming.

"Aww, Kara, I don't know...I'm not any good with kids," Winn groaned, looking over Kara's shoulder at the timid looking ten-year-old standing by the coffee table in Ms. Grant's office.

"You have toys all over your desk and you eat cereal for dinner," Kara said dryly, with a little smirk.

"They're not toys, they're collectible figurines," the young IT director grumbled.

"Winn, please. I'm _begging_ you."

"Ahh, Kara Danvers begging...my kryptonite," Winn sighed, shaking his head. Kara beamed at him. "Hey, Carter!" Winn called, getting up from his desk and heading into Ms. Grant's spacious office. "C'mere, let me show you something cool..."

It was over an hour later before Kara looked up from her work again, happy to see Winn and Carter cheerfully blowing things up on the enormous video screen in Ms. Grant's office. She used her super-hearing for a moment to listen to their conversation; Carter sounded happy as he told Winn, _I never knew my mom's office could be so cool!_

She was still smiling to herself when Carter called out to her, "Kara! Hey, come play Minecraft with us! I bet you can't beat me, I'm kicking Winn's butt!" The _no_ was already on the tip of her tongue when she looked up at the two of them through the glass wall; Carter was smiling and looking completely at ease, and Winn was all puffed up with his _I am the master of all that can be programmed_ look, which Kara had a big soft spot for.

 _"One_ round," she said with a sigh, getting up and coming into the office. "Then we have to get home and get some dinner, okay Carter?"

"Why don't we just order food here? This is way cooler than the TV at my house," Carter begged excitedly.

"Okay...how about this. If I win this round, we go home. If you beat me, we'll order in and stay here till bedtime." Carter raised an eyebrow and glanced at Winn thoughtfully.

"Dude, it's cool," Winn said quietly to the boy with a wink. "She doesn't even _play_ video games. We got this in the bag."

"Okay!" Carter agreed happily.

Less than ten minutes later, Kara was smirking her biggest, most childishly triumphant smirk at the two boys as she tossed her controller back on the coffee table. "No fair!" Carter cried. "I thought you said she didn't play video games!"

"I don't," Kara shrugged. "I just have really good reflexes." She smiled innocently.

"She, yeah, she does," Winn nodded petulantly, pointing at Kara like a zoo exhibit. "Freakishly, freakishly good reflexes." Carter crossed his arms and looked the blonde girl up and down.

"Are you messing with me?"

"Nope. Sorry," Kara shrugged, still smirking in a way that looked not at all sorry. "Naturally gifted, I guess. C'mon, get your backpack, time to head home." But just then, a breaking news bulletin appeared across every screen in the CatCo office, breaking through the video game interface that Winn had set up, along with every other screen in the outer office. It was the Red Tornado, rampaging through downtown National City, crashing telephone poles over and sweeping cars around the street with its intense wind power. Kara looked at Winn, who just nodded. _Go._

"Change of plans. Carter, you get to stay and play more video games with Winn. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"No, I wanna go see the robot thing!" Carter said excitedly. "Maybe Supergirl will show up to fight it! That would be so awesome!"

"Carter, _stay_ with Winn. I'll be back as soon as I can," she promised; and before waiting for a response, the blonde superhero was out the door in a flash. The second she was in the empty stairwell, she whisked out of her office clothes and streaked out of the building in her Supergirl uniform, already tapping her bluetooth earpiece before she was even out the window.

"Alex! Where is it, are you tracking it?" She asked, not bothering to explain what she was talking about because she knew Alex already knew.

"Corner of 14th and Hancock," Alex said clearly in her ear, "heading west. Be careful Kara, I've been studying that arm-souvenir you left us and I _don't_ think General Lane was telling us the truth. The android wasn't designed to fight insurgents—it was made to kill Kryptonians."

 _"What?"_ Kara gasped, completely unprepared for this new piece of information. She knew that General Lane didn't like her, or her cousin—he'd made that perfectly clear—but had he actually come to National City with the intent to _kill_ her?

"Its outer polymer is lined with lead, so you won't be able to see what's going on inside it. There could be kryptonite bombs waiting to go off in its chest the next time you get too close...we just don't know," Alex sighed worriedly. "Just stay on your toes, Kar. I've got your back."

"Thanks, Lexie. I'm on it," Kara said determinedly, streaking off through the sky in the direction of Hancock Street. It didn't take long to catch up with the android; it responded to her more like a sentient being than a robot, even though its eyes were flat and yellow and dead-looking. It picked up a whole car from the street with its one remaining arm and threw it at her; and it seemed to notice and understand when she prioritized the safety of innocent civilians over her own, blocking the flying car-missile from hitting pedestrians by shielding them with her own body. They fought back and forth across the sky for several minutes; then, just when Kara was getting the upper hand, the thing began to spin so fast, it created an actual, full-on tornado, that began to make its way down the busy city street, trashing everything in its wake. The streets were filled with screams as pedestrians fled and people abandoned their cars to run away from the advancing twister. The android looked at Kara—at least, it pointed its dead yellow eyes in her direction—and then deliberately flew off the opposite way, away from the twister. Kara wanted to chase after it, to end it once and for all; but she couldn't just let a tornado destroy National City.

With a huff of frustration, Kara zipped over to the twister, flying around it as fast as she could in the opposite direction to create friction and inertia. After about thirty seconds of zipping against the current of wind as fast as she could, it slowed down and then dissipated into the air. Kara drooped slightly under her cape, relieved but completely exhausted. The sound of cheering and applause from below lifted her spirits somewhat, as it always did; it was good to be appreciated by the people she was protecting. She smiled down and waved at the people of National City, then zipped away, back toward CatCo, entering the same side window where she'd left her office clothes in the stairwell. As she landed lightly, she tapped her earring again.

"Hi baby, are you okay?" Alex asked anxiously through the tiny receiver. "I saw the fight on the news just now, it looked like a tough one."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I'd feel better if I could punch General Lane in the face, though. Just once." Kara half-smiled as she pulled her work clothes back on.

"I'll see what I can do about that," Alex joked, and Kara could hear the smile in her voice, just relieved that her favorite blonde alien was okay. "In the meantime, how about I meet you and Carter at Ms. Grant's place and we'll order some pizzas? Even Supergirl needs her down time."

"That sounds like heaven," Kara smiled. "You're my favorite girlfriend, you know."

"Gee, thanks," Alex chuckled. "See you soon, bluebird. I love you."

"Love you too, Lexie." Kara ended the call and whisked back into the office, trying to look as casual as possible and smoothing down her windblown hair before greeting the boys.

…...

Kara and Carter had been home for about half an hour and were deep in a game of Settlers of Catan when the doorbell rang, and Kara hopped up happily, not even needing her x-ray vision to know who it was. "Are you a sight for sore eyes," the blonde girl sighed with a weary smile as she dropped her head on Alex's shoulder and hugged her, in a limp, boneless sort of way.

"Aww, bluebird. That Red Tornado thing really wiped you out, huh?" Alex cooed sympathetically, tilting the blonde girl's chin up so she could get to her girlfriend's lips, and kissing her very, very sweetly.

"Mmm. Yeah. And who knows where he'll turn up next...or who he'll kill..." Kara sighed again, sounding a little burned out and discouraged.

"Oh! I just remembered. Here." Alex thrust a shopping bag at Kara, who opened it quizzically.

"Oh my God, shut _up,"_ Kara groaned in sheer delight. "You really got me five pounds of chocolate? After everything that happened today, you still remembered?!"

"Duh. That's why I'm your favorite girlfriend," Alex teased gently, delighted with the armful of blonde alien she got in response to her excellent present-giving skills.

"'C'mon inside and meet Carter," Kara grinned, giving Alex one last very naughty kiss in the doorway before leading her into the house by her hand, where Carter was waiting in the living room, doing something on his phone now while he waited for Kara to come back to their board game. "Hey, Carter, this is my girlfriend Alex. She's gonna hang with us this weekend." Carter looked up and his jaw dropped, almost as entranced-looking as he had been when rhapsodizing about Supergirl.

"Wow...you're in the _FBI?"_ the young boy exclaimed in awe, looking at her field jacket. "That is _so_ cool. Do you have a badge? Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Here," Alex smiled gently, flipping open her FBI badge (which turned back into a DEO badge at the tap of her fingerprint in the top left corner whenever needed) and handing it to Carter to look at. "The rest is classified. Sorry dude." She winked. The boy still looked thrilled as he held a real FBI badge in his hand, inspecting it closely. Kara was already breaking into the chocolate.

"So, pizza?" The dark-haired girl asked, dropping down on the couch next to Kara and playing absently with a lock of her hair.

"Yes!" Carter exclaimed so enthusiastically, that the blonde girl looked up from her chocolate with an inscrutable expression, one eyebrow raised.

"Your mom doesn't let you have pizza, does she?"

"Only because she read an article about stupid gluten and how it's gonna turn us all into obese diabetics with Irritable Bowel Syndrome who need to ride electric scooters cuz we'll be too fat to walk," the boy rolled his eyes. Kara snorted with laughter, though she tried to hold it in. That sounded like her boss all right.

"Well...I don't think the three of us are in danger of needing electric scooters anytime soon," the blonde girl smiled, and Carter actually jumped up and hugged her.

"Thank you Kara! I want pineapple and hot peppers!"

Three pizzas later (one that Carter and Alex shared, and two that Kara ate all by herself), the three of them were on the couch in their pajamas watching Cosmos on Netflix—Carter's choice. He was thrilled all over again when he discovered how much Kara and Alex both knew about astrophysics, as they watched the iconic documentary along with him and commented on the content. Though he seemed to like a lot of the same things any ten-year-old boy would, like pizza and video games and pretty blonde superheroes, he was also turning out to be a bit of a science geek, and he was clearly excited to be around adults who shared these interests and could speak intelligently about them. His mother was also brilliant, of course, but she kept her brainpower focused very sharply on her media empire, and generally said no more than _that's nice, sweetheart_ when her son tried to talk to her about theoretical physics or the newest advancement at Lord Technologies.

"Hey, can we go see the new Supertrain tomorrow?" Carter asked eagerly, when talk of Lord Tech came around to Maxwell Lord's newest invention, the 500mph hovertrain that was scheduled to be unveiled the very next day. "We could be on the _very first_ ride of the _very first_ hovertrain. How sweet would that be?"

"Pretty sweet," Alex nodded, looking at Kara, who shrugged agreeably. She herself had flown faster than that, of course, but she knew it was a big deal for everybody else.

"Sure, why not?" Kara smiled, seeing how excited Carter was about it.

"Yes!" Carter jumped up and pumped the air. "You guys are so cool! Will you babysit me again?"

"Well, that all depends..." Kara said, in a mock-serious voice as she raised her eyebrows in deliberation.

"Depends on what?" Carter asked anxiously.

"On how much you argue when I tell you that it's bedtime now."

"Goodnight!" The grinning boy chirped eagerly, hugging them both in turn and scampering off to his room, probably already fantasizing about what it would feel like to travel at 500 miles per hour.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" Kara called after him, turning back to Alex with a big fat smile on her face. "I forgot how much fun this is," she murmured, leaning in and kissing her girlfriend thoroughly, nibbling playfully on her bottom lip.

"Mmm...I don't remember this part from high school," Alex sighed softly, her fingers playing through Kara's long hair again. "Otherwise I would definitely have helped you babysit more..."

"We were dumb," Kara agreed, kissing her again. "But...we probably shouldn't...not here on the couch..." the blonde girl murmured against her girlfriend's warm lips. "What if Carter gets up for a drink of water or something?"

"Yeah..." Alex sighed. Then she smiled evilly. "Do you wanna go have sex in Ms. Grant's bed?" Kara just grinned fiendishly, and grabbed her girlfriend by the hips, throwing Alex over her shoulder and heading for the master bedroom. Both of them were giggling hysterically like teenagers.

…...

The next morning, all Carter could talk about from the moment he sat down to eat his cereal was the Supertrain. How Maxwell Lord had developed the anti-polar magnetization field that allowed the hovercraft tech to work, how long it had taken to develop and test, how fast it could go, how much it would reduce National City's carbon footprint if it replaced all other forms of public transit. By the time they actually got to the new train station for the ribbon cutting ceremony, the boy rambling excitedly next to Kara bore virtually no resemblance to the shy, silent child she'd picked up from school the day before. She smiled at him, then up at Alex, who winked at her playfully. They were both enjoying playing house like this, though neither of them was quite ready to admit it yet; playing at being parents. Together.

After a few lofty speeches about the future of National City and renewable energy, Maxwell Lord cut the red ribbon that officially opened the train for business, and Kara, Carter and Alex got in line to board the sleek and shiny new train. Carter was very opinionated about which part of the train would have the best views, and he lead them straight to the very front car, where there were windows pointing directly ahead as well as to the side. Since the train ran on autopilot, there was no need for a conductor's compartment at the front of the train to block the spectacular views.

As the train pulled out of the station and began to gain speed, Kara did a quick sweep of the area with her x-ray vision, more out of habit than anything else. She wasn't looking for anything specific, or expecting to find anything; it was just a perimeter sweep, something she did many times a day without even really thinking about it, the way other people might double-check that their doors are locked before turning off the lights and going to bed at night.

But she did see something. Something she was not expecting in the slightest. Through the door to the small bathroom at the back end of the front car, Kara's x-ray eyes saw a man with a bomb strapped to his chest, breathing hard, staring at himself in the little mirror over the sink as if he were summoning all his strength. The blonde girl's heart dropped into her stomach, and she gasped. She had to get Carter and Alex out of here. She had a fleeting, momentary twinge of guilt for thinking of _her_ people's safety before everyone else's; but it wasn't a contest. She was going to save them all. Just, Carter and Alex first.

"Alex," she whispered very low, nodding for her girlfriend to follow her to the far corner of the train car, away from where Carter had his nose pressed to the window. "There's a man with a bomb strapped to his chest in the bathroom."

 _"What?"_ Alex whispered back harshly, eyes wide. "Okay, go find somewhere to disappear so Supergirl can come to the rescue. I'll call Hank."

"And don't let Carter out of your sight," Kara added, her voice very quiet but very intense.

"Of course," Alex nodded, squeezing her girlfriend's hand reassuringly. Kara slipped away, and Alex whipped out her cell phone, speaking with Hank in low voices so as not to cause a panic.

"Hey, where's Kara?" Carter asked, coming up to Alex with an innocently confused look on his face.

"Oh...she went to find a bathroom," Alex told him, hoping she sounded calmer than she felt.

"But there's a bathroom right there," Carter said, pointing to where the bomber was.

"Yeah, but there's someone in there, see?" Alex pointed to the red _occupied_ sign above the door handle.

"Oh," Carter shrugged, perfectly satisfied with this explanation as he turned his attention back to the stunning view out the window. That was when they all heard a loud clang on the train roof above their heads; the emergency hatch popped open, and Supergirl flew in.

 _"No way,"_ Carter gasped, his eyes going round as saucers as he gazed at his crush-worthy idol. The entire train car had more or less the same reaction, except that the adults had the sense to look worried as well as impressed by Supergirl's entrance through the roof hatch—if a superhero flies into your midst on a moving train, it's not a social call.

"Everyone please stay calm," Kara said in her most authoritative Supergirl voice. "Nobody's getting hurt today." She looked down at Carter, who was staring up at her like he was under hypnosis. She needed to snap him out of it. "You look strong and brave," she said to him gently, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Can you help me save these people?" Carter just nodded wordlessly. "I need you and Agent Grey to take all these people as far back to the end of the train as you can get. _Everyone._ No yelling, no running. Calm and cool, just like a fire drill. Can you do that?"

"Yes," Carter nodded, his chest puffing up with importance now. He had no idea what the threat was, but he obviously wasn't scared at all. He had no doubt that Supergirl would save them.

"You stay with Agent Grey no matter what, understood?" She asked again sternly.

"Yes," Carter nodded again eagerly, looking up at Alex with a newfound awe now that he saw her working together with Supergirl.

"Come on," Alex put a hand on Carter's back, giving Kara a nod over her shoulder as she turned and addressed the train car, holding up her badge. "Everyone, follow us to the back of the car, we're going to take all the other passengers along with us as we fall back to the rear of the train. Walking only, no running. Let's go." The alarmed passengers automatically followed Alex's calm command, the authority in her voice combined with her badge (and the fact that she was standing next to Supergirl) wiping away any hesitations from the crowd. Kara waited a minute after the car was cleared; she used her x-ray vision to track the progress of the crowd all the way back to the third car before she was satisfied that it was safe to confront the bomber. She ripped the bathroom door off its hinges.

"Hi there," she said gently to the desperate, wild-eyed man inside. "I want to help you. You don't have to do this."

"You want to _help me_..." the man laughed, but it was a hollow, heartbroken laugh. Kara felt a stab of sympathy for the man, even though he was planning to bomb a train and kill hundreds of people. He was still a person. She didn't want to hurt him if she didn't have to. "If you really wanted to help me, you could've showed up a month ago...or six months ago...and paid my daughter's hospital bills. But it's too late for that now, isn't it? My _nine-year-old daughter_ is in the ground because Maxwell Lord fired me and took away my insurance. Fifteen years I worked for him, I gave my heart and soul to Lord Tech. And he just—he just _fires_ me? My daughter was sick, and no one would help me!" He screamed, tears running down his cheeks. Kara felt matching tears welling up in her own eyes, feeling a shadow of his grief as if it were her own. Her powers of empathy were almost as strong as her x-ray vision and her freeze breath.

"I'm so sorry about your daughter..." the blonde girl said gently, reaching out and trying to put a hand on the man's shoulder, but he flinched away, wild-eyed. Kara put her hands up in the air in the universal symbol of submission. "But you _have_ to know...she wouldn't want you to do this."

"What do you know about it? Do _you_ have kids?" the man demanded, crying now, not even trying to wipe his tears away. He was beyond caring. "Do you know what it's like to lose your _child?"_

"No," Kara said quietly, looking him dead in the eye. "But I do know what it's like to be a child and lose your parents. My parents...they wanted me to go on, have the best life I could have. Your daughter would want that for you, too. You know that." The man half-sobbed, half-screamed, shaking his head as he began to pace back and forth across the empty train car. "Please, I'm begging you...it's not too late, you don't have to do this. You can still make your daughter proud." The grief-stricken man looked up at her desperately, tears still running down his face.

"Can you separate this car from the rest of the train?" he asked her quietly. Kara looked at him sadly; she didn't have to answer.

"Do it," he said stonily.

"But"—Kara kept trying to argue, to save the bomber's life as well as everyone else's. He was no supervillain, just a grieving father. She could save him.

"Do it _now_ , or everyone dies!" He yelled, holding up the switch in his hand, his thumb hovering over the button. "It doesn't matter how far back on the train you sent the rest of the passengers, the radius of the bomb is beyond the length of the train. I did work for Lord Tech for fifteen years. I'm not a _total_ idiot." Kara didn't say anything; she just looked at him sadly. _"Do it!"_ He roared.

Wiping a stray tear from her cheek, Kara opened the door that separated the front car from the one behind it; and she looked down at the thick metal beams connecting them, her laser vision lighting up and burning through the metal like butter. Within seconds, the front car was freed, and went whizzing off ahead of the rest of the train at a much faster velocity now that its mass was so much less than a moment ago. Kara looked around inside the second car for some kind of emergency-brake handle to pull; but there weren't any. She used her x-ray eyes to search the entire rest of the train, but there were no emergency brakes _anywhere_. She knew the thing was run on autopilot, but who was really stupid and cocky enough to design a 500mph train with _no emergency brake?_

 _Maxwell Lord, that's who_ , Kara thought angrily, shaking her head at the bullheaded overconfidence of the famous technology mogul who had been one of her most outspoken critics in the media since she'd come out as Supergirl. With a deep breath of determination, Kara stepped out into the open air at the severed front end of the train, and used herself as a living emergency brake, bracing her feet against the tracks and her shoulder against the train, pushing back against the forward velocity as hard as she possibly could, screaming with the effort. For a minute, she started to get scared that she couldn't do it, the hover-powered velocity was so strong; but then she started to feel the train's massive weight losing momentum, slowly but surely. Sparks were flying all around her feet, up her knee-high boots as she continued to brace herself against the train tracks.

At her back, she felt the warmth and rumbling of the bomb exploding in the distance far ahead of them, and her heart gave a little squeeze of sadness for the man she hadn't saved. But she forced her attention back to the hundreds of people she _could_ still save. After another minute, the train finally slowed, and came to a stop. Kara was looking down at her feet, panting; then the sound of wild applause close by made her look up, seeing the train's passengers crowding back into the open-ended front of the car to cheer for her. She smiled weakly, exhausted but relieved. Before she even had a chance to search the crowd for Alex and Carter, something red and very hard came whizzing out of nowhere and smashed into her sideways, blasting away with her into the mountains. Red Tornado.

…...

Before Kara even had a chance to think or catch her breath, the android threw her into the side of a mountain so hard, it caused a small avalanche. She was too winded to move for a moment; so when the thing circled back around at her again, she did the only thing she could think of, which was to give it a blast of her laser vision. It blew the android back a bit, but didn't do much damage. She remembered how effective her freeze-breath had been before, making the android's metallic frame brittle enough for her to smash off its arm; but she was too winded to use her freeze-breath now. Panting, she began to panic a little. She was so exhausted already. She'd just stopped a 500mph train with her body.

Her tiny bluetooth earring went off, and she tapped it hastily before giving the red robot another short blast of her laser vision, unable to do anything more than hold it off at the moment. "Kara! What happened?" Alex asked in her ear. "We got to the front of the train and you were gone."

"Red Tornado," Kara grunted, finally freeing herself from the deep gouge in the mountainside, and flying down to land heavily on her feet, stumbling for a moment before standing up straight again. "Timing of the freaking year award, this guy," she joked breathlessly.

"Hang on baby, I'm sending a field team to back you up...they'll be there in a few minutes..."

 _I don't have a few minutes,_ Kara thought but didn't say. She was too weak to punch her attacker. She was too winded to use her freeze-breath. But she was too _mad_ to just give up. Even after she had just saved literally hundreds of lives from a tragic, violent death, the creation born of General Lane's anti-alien bigotry was back to try to kill her again. She was _not_ going to give him the satisfaction. She was _not_ going to be defeated by a mindless machine, no matter how strong it was. She was going to go home to Alex and tuck Carter into bed, and then someday they'd be tucking their _own_ kids into bed, safe and sound in a city under Supergirl's protection. With a broken, raspy scream of pure fury, Kara blasted her laser vision into the android, not just once in a burst, but continuously. It tried to continue advancing toward her; but she just kept blasting it with her red-hot lasers, making the whole thing start to glow as the metal heated up beyond the point of stability. Kara was still screaming, her whole consciousness whittled down to the power shooting from her eyes, all other awareness falling away.

Finally, with a blast that sent a shockwave straight through her body and rattled the mountainside, the android exploded. Kara collapsed on the ground, her chest heaving for air. "Alex..." she croaked, coughing as she slowly got her breath back.

"I'm here, bluebird," Alex said lovingly in her earpiece, the worry clear in her voice.

"You can...cancel the backup team. It's over...Red Tornado is toast."

…...

By the time the chaos of the ruined train had begun to be sorted out, and passengers had begun to be transported off into emergency search and rescue vehicles to be taken back to the city, Kara had plenty of time to fly back and discreetly slip into the back window where she'd stashed her human clothes; and since everyone was now at the front end of the train, where all the action was, there was no one to see her as she changed a little bit slower than usual. Even for Supergirl, this had been a long day. She found her way to the front of the train where Alex and Carter were waiting.

"Kara!" Carter's eyes lit up and he ran to her, hugging her tight around her waist. "We got separated from you, you missed the whole thing! _Supergirl_ was here! She _talked_ to me! And she knows Alex!" He looked up admiringly at the dark-haired agent again.

"What makes you say that?" Alex asked cautiously, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because she called you by your name, _duh_ ," Carter rolled his eyes. "Does Supergirl help the FBI a lot? Have you gotten to talk to her lots of times?" He smiled hugely. Alex grinned back at him, then up at Kara, her expression conveying everything she couldn't say out loud in front of Carter.

"A few," the young DEO agent nodded casually, with a little smirk. "Come on, I think we've had enough adventure for one day, haven't we gang?"

"Yes. Enough. Home now," Kara agreed weakly, cuddling up to Alex's side and dropping her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. Alex wrapped an arm protectively around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Movie and ice cream night?" Carter asked hopefully, having picked up on the fact that his babysitters were way more relaxed about junk food than his mom, and hoping to squeeze every last moment out of this rare opportunity.

"Sure," Alex nodded with a smile, sensing that Kara was completely tapped out and done adulting for the day. "C'mon now. Off we go." She herded them into the next open emergency rescue vehicle that pulled up to the front of the train, making their way back to National City much more slowly than they had left it on the high-powered, now destroyed hovertrain.

When they got back to Ms. Grant's house, Kara curled up in a corner of the couch and immediately fell asleep while Carter and Alex ate dinner and watched movies next to her. Carter seemed a little worried at first, and even asked Alex if they should go watch in his room so they wouldn't disturb her; but Alex assured the kind-hearted little boy that Kara was a very deep sleeper and wouldn't be disturbed unless they punched her in the face, and maybe not even then. Carter laughed and went back to his ice cream. But Alex did keep one wary eye on her sleeping girlfriend. Today had been a lot, even for Supergirl. She wondered if maybe their first stop tomorrow after they were relieved of babysitting duty should be to the DEO, to give her a few hours under the solar panels, get a little recharge.

But Kara did wake up eventually, ate a little (not a lot; not even as much as on a normal, non-action day), and went back to sleep with Alex in Ms. Grant's enormous master bedroom. There was no question of naughty sex in the boss's bed tonight; Kara was passed out cold with her head on Alex's chest the moment she laid down. Alex held onto her girlfriend protectively, stroking her hair long after she was asleep.

When Ms. Grant arrived home the next morning, Carter immediately launched into an animated recounting of the previous day's exciting events, moving around the room and gesticulating wildly as he painted his tale of heroics and meeting Supergirl. Ms. Grant raised an eyebrow, noting how much her son seemed to have come out of his shell in the past two days, how much he was talking, how bright his smile was. When she asked him if he'd been scared at all, he just rolled his eyes and said "Of course not, Mom—I told you, Supergirl was there!" Cat Grant actually smiled, and ruffled her son's hair.

"Well I'm sorry I missed all the excitement. Say goodbye to Kara and Alex, sweetheart, and then it's time to get ready for your karate class." Carter nodded, launching himself unexpectedly into Kara's arms.

"Bye Kara," he said happily, beaming up at her. Then he hugged Alex with equal enthusiasm. "Bye Alex. Can you guys babysit me again? Even without Supergirl, we had so much fun."

"We did, didn't we?" Kara smiled at him. "We'll see what your mom thinks."

"Mom thinks it would be great," Ms. Grant said unexpectedly, squeezing her assistant's arm with a fierce twinkle in her eye. "Thank you Kira...you were right. He couldn't have been safer with anyone."

…...

They had only just gotten home to their own apartment and dumped their overnight bags on the floor when Kara's bluetooth earring rang, and she tapped it with a soft yawn. "What's up, Hank?"

"I know you had a lot of action yesterday, Danvers, but if you're up for it, there's a Coast Guard ship in distress about five miles out from shore. They're not going down, but they're without power and adrift, and all the rest of their ships are tied up in a drug bust. I told them they might have to hang tight and rely on their own people this time..."

"No, no, I'll go," Kara shook her head, even though Hank wasn't there to see it. "Nobody trying to blow me up, this'll be no problem," she joked weakly.

"Roger that. Keep up the good work, Danvers." Hank clicked off the call, and Kara tapped her earring to end the transmission.

 _"Where_ does he want you to go now?" Alex demanded, crossing her arms over her chest in her protective, _you-have-to-go-through-me_ pose, which Kara found incredibly adorable. "Haven't you done enough for National City for one weekend? You're _exhausted,_ baby. Even _you_ have your limits. Supergirl needs a nap."

"It's just a Coast Guard ship that lost power. They just need a tow," Kara waved her arm dismissively. "I'll be back in half an hour, tops." Alex sighed reluctantly.

"Okay...but after that, nothing but chillaxing for the _rest_ of the day," the dark-haired girl said sternly, stroking her hand through Kara's long hair and kissing her forehead.

"No arguing here," Kara smiled back wearily. "Why don't you pick a movie and order some takeout. I'll be back before it gets here, 'kay?"

"Okay bluebird," Alex smiled, kissing her. "Fly safe." Kara nodded, leaping out of her clothes half a second before she was out the window, and streaking away across the sky. She was slower than normal; it took her five whole minutes to get to the drifting ship, which normally would be enough time for her to fly across several states. But she didn't need to rush right now, no one was dying; so she gave herself a little break in the speed department. She saw the ship as she drew near, and she was just about to start her descent...when all of a sudden, the weightless, floaty feeling she had when she was flying drained out of her, like someone had just unscrewed a tap in the bottom of her foot, and suddenly she wasn't flying; she was falling. She fell straight down from the sky into the ocean, and came up gasping in shock.

"What the hell?" she panted, blinking sea water out of her eyes. She tried to lift off again, but she couldn't. She looked over at the ship—it wasn't far away now, about fifty yards—and tried to look through it with her x-ray vision, but that wasn't working either. She began to shiver, realizing how very, very cold the water was this far out from shore. Kara didn't shiver. At least, she never had before. She tapped her bluetooth earring anxiously. "Alex?"

"Hey sweetness. Did you find the ship?"

"Yeah, but...something happened..."

"What do you mean, Kara? What happened? Is someone hurt?"

"No, I just...I fell."

"What do you mean, you fell?" Alex asked uncomprehendingly.

"Out of the sky...I fell out of the sky," Kara clarified clumsily, still confused and disoriented. "I can't fly, Alex. It just...stopped. I can't use my x-ray eyes either. Something...something happened to my powers."

 _"Shit,"_ Alex cursed angrily. "It was that fucking Red Tornado, I know it. General Lane had it in for you from the beginning. But don't worry Kara, we'll get you under the solar panels and your batteries will be all recharged in no time."

"Oh-k-kay," Kara stuttered, her teeth beginning to chatter from the freezing, deep ocean water. "Get here f-fast, 'kay?"

"Kara, where are you?" Alex asked anxiously.

"The ocean," Kara answered meekly. "But I can s-s-see the...the Coast Guard ship...it's n-not far. I'll swim over and m-m-meet you there, 'kay?"

"Okay baby," Alex agreed gently, trying not to let the extent of her worry show in her voice. "Hang tight. We're coming to get you."

…...

 _...To Be Continued...!_ (Yes it's a cliffhanger bitches! Just like the end of ep 6—OMGZ Kara lost her powers! So YEAHHH cliffhanger!)


	10. Powerless

Hey Supergang!

Thanks for all your continued enthusiasm, don't forget to review and give me your input! Only note for this chap is Alex's song—Songbird—by Fleetwood Mac (but of course I'm thinking of the Glee version, when Santana sings it to Brittany...maybe you wanna go watch?)

Enjoy! :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 10: Powerless**

…...

When Alex walked onto the bridge of the mid-sized Coast Guard ship, she found Kara curled up in the far corner of the room, huddled up under a rough grey search-and-rescue blanket with her head resting limply on her knees. Her eyes were closed, but Alex was pretty sure she wasn't sleeping. She was holding herself tightly under the blanket, arms wrapped around her knees; and if she were asleep, they'd probably relax and slump to one side or the other. Then she sniffled and rubbed her nose clumsily, and Alex knew for sure that she was awake.

"Hey," the dark-haired girl said gently, kneeling down on the floor next to her soaking wet, miserable looking girlfriend. Kara opened her blue eyes a crack, blinking a few times. Then she slowly raised her head.

"Hi," the blonde girl murmured back, sounding very disoriented, like a little kid who'd just been woken up in the middle of the night. "I blew out my batteries, Lex," she sighed softly. "And I..." Kara paused, and Alex waited patiently, assuming she'd just lost her train of thought since she seemed so spacey. But then, the blonde girl's eyes slid closed again as she took a sharp breath and sneezed, pitching forward into her blanket with a little shiver. Alex had never seen Kara sneeze before, not once in her life. "...I thindk I have a cold," she finished unnecessarily, wiping her runny nose on the back of her hand with a deep sniffle. "I don't like it."

"Aww, bluebird...c'mere, I got you," Alex hummed softly, wrapping her arms protectively around her damp, woozy girlfriend and holding her tight. Kara hid her face against Alex's neck, like she sometimes used to when they were growing up and the blonde alien girl would get PTSD flashbacks of her dead world. Alex put one hand on her back and the other against the back of her neck, just like she had back then, knowing it would make Kara feel better at least a little bit. They stayed huddled up like that for a quiet moment, holding onto each other very tightly.

"Can we go home now?" Kara asked croakily, finally loosening her hold on her girlfriend as she sat up rubbing one eye with the palm of her hand. She probably had a headache, Alex thought, and just didn't know how to express it.

"Kara..." Alex sighed, pressing her forehead lightly against her girlfriend's, their universal method of comforting each other. Kara's skin felt cold and clammy. Usually she felt warm to Alex, or to any human touch; her natural body temp ran a couple of degrees higher than a human's, linked up to her lighting metabolism. "You know we can't just go home, baby. We have to go to the DEO and get you under the sunlamps so you can get your juice back. Then you'll feel all super again."

 _"Noooo,"_ Kara whined, dropping her head against Alex's neck again. "I don't feel good, Lexie. I want my bed. I don't want to lie on a hard plastic table in an alien lab. Take me _home."_

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry sunshine..." the dark-haired girl cooed, tightening her protective hold on her girlfriend again as Kara burrowed into her, wishing more than anything that she could just give the blonde girl what she wanted. "I wish I _could_ just take you home and cuddle you...but the DEO is the _only_ safe place for you to be right now. You know that. It's the only place with doctors that even know your anatomy."

"I don't make _you_ go to the doctor when you're sick," Kara grumbled petulantly, her voice a little muffled since her face was still pressed against Alex's neck.

"I know Kar, I know. It's not fair," Alex sighed, rubbing her fingers through her girlfriend's damp hair. "But this is different, and you know it. You've never been sick in your life. Pragmatically, you have no immune system. It's been, what, _forty-five minutes_ since your powers blew? And you already caught a cold. You can't just go waltzing through the city, you'll catch every single germ in your path. Either we get you in the sunroom and get your solar charge on, or we put you in a plastic bubble."

"Would my bed be in the bubble?" Kara asked defeatedly. Then she felt the weird, inside-her-head tickle coming back, and she shifted just enough to cup her hands tightly over her face against Alex's shoulder. _"Aah'tchxeww! ...*snfl*_...ughhh, sorry," she sighed miserably, wiping her nose on the blanket now, beyond caring.

"Hush, you don't say you're sorry," Alex shook her head, rubbing Kara's back protectively. _"I_ say bless you."

"Thandks," Kara mumbled meekly. She sniffled again, wiping her nose absently on the back of her hand. "Ughh...my nose is leaking," she complained, and Alex couldn't help smiling a little. She was still worried as hell, but that didn't change the fact that Kara was adorable.

"You mean _running_ , Kar. Not leaking," the dark-haired girl corrected gently. "Your nose is _running."_

"Running...right...I knew that," Kara nodded with a soft yawn.

"So can we get on the helicopter now, babe?" Alex asked gently.

"Yeah...I guess so," the blonde girl sighed grumpily. "Anywhere's better than here."

…...

Back in the DEO med lab, Kara's progress through the full-body scan was halted for the fifth time in a row when she started coughing and rolled over onto her side, causing the scan to stop halfway through. Alex reset the machine and returned protectively to her girlfriend's side, offering her a cold bottle of water.

"I'm _sorryyyy,"_ the blonde girl whined, exhausted and embarrassed as she sat up unsteadily on the table and gulped the water. She was so thirsty. "I can't make it stop..."

"It's not your fault, Kara. You're sick and stuffed up, these are involuntary reflexes. _Please_ stop apologizing," the dark-haired girl sighed, wrapping both arms protectively around her girlfriend as the blonde girl dropped her head onto Alex's shoulder miserably, her legs dangling over the side of the lab table. She'd changed out of her soaking wet Supergirl uniform and into a pair of standard-issue DEO training fatigues, a black t-shirt and matching black sweatpants. No government or military seals or branding anywhere; they were the very definition of _black ops_ here. Her skin didn't feel chilled against Alex's anymore...now it was hot, hotter than it should be. Her poor little alien had a fever.

"Then can we just...stop the tests? Just for a while? I'm so tired, Alex...and lying flat on my back just makes everything feel worse," Kara complained, with a croaky cough against her girlfriend's shoulder. "Sorry...I mean, not sorry," she corrected herself woozily, trying to follow Alex's instructions to stop apologizing every time she coughed or sneezed. It was just so humiliating, the way her body kept doing things without permission; she felt guilty for holding up the tests, but she just couldn't help it. Alex held onto her tightly, rubbing her back, and looked up over Kara's shoulder through the window to the control room, where Hank and the med team were sitting in front of the computers where the test readouts would appear. If they could get Kara to lie still on her back for a full sixty seconds without moving.

"Can we just let her rest for a while?" Alex begged her superiors through the window. The lab room was hermetically sealed, but a two-way mic allowed them to talk to each other through the glass. "We already know what our next move is, can't we just do it? You already have her blood and vitals, can't you just start with those?" Seeing Kara so miserable was painful for Alex. The blonde girl never complained like this; she was usually so stoic. And there was no guidebook for how to take care of a sick alien.

They couldn't put her under the sunlamps now because of the fever; it was too big a gamble, they had no idea what would happen, and Alex wasn't about to risk frying her girlfriend's brain before her powers came back. Plan B was a super-concentrated Vitamin D drip, which was the closest approximation to sunlight they could get without actually applying heat to Kara's body; plus broad-spectrum antibiotics, and Tylenol with Vicodin to calm the cough and fever. All adjusted to her rapid Kryptonian metabolic rate, of course—that hadn't changed just because she'd blown her powers. There were enough meds going into the IV cocktail they were mixing to kill an elephant.

"Kara, I know this isn't fun," Dr. Schwartzman said through the mic, her voice very calm and pacifying. She was the lead researcher on the nonhuman med team, and had a surprisingly gentle bedside manner for a doctor whose primary work was lab-based. She had always treated Kara like a person, not a lab rat. "But we _need_ these scans to help you. We can't assume the Vitamin D drip will work the same as a real solar charge, and if we don't have a backup plan ready, you could go into septic shock or respiratory failure before we have a chance to find another way."

"I can't _do_ this anymore," the blonde girl whimpered, beyond embarrassment now as she started to cry on Alex's shoulder. She no longer cared about the team of scientists on the other side of the glass, watching her whine and sob like a little kid. "Lexie, please..." She clung to her girlfriend, who held onto her protectively. Alex looked back at the doctors, making eye contact specifically with Dr. Schwartzman, since the final decision was hers to make.

"Just give her an hour, okay? One hour," Alex begged. "Let me put her to bed and start her on the IV, and once she's asleep you could send a brass band through her room and she won't wake up. I'll bring her back in for the scans while she's sleeping. You won't be bothered if I move you while you're sleeping, will you babe?" Alex asked her girlfriend gently.

"Ndoe," Kara sniffled meekly without picking her head up from Alex's shoulder. The dark-haired girl looked back hopefully at the team on the other side of the glass, her eyes pleading. Hank was the first one to break. He couldn't stand to see that desperation in Alex's eyes and not do anything about it. And seeing Kara, _Supergirl_ , crying in pain and exhaustion wasn't helping either.

"Liz?" He addressed Dr. Schwartzman informally. They'd been on a first-name basis for years. The sharp-eyed doctor sighed reluctantly, taking off her glasses to rub her eyes.

"One hour," she agreed, nodding to her med team. "Get that IV down to the med bay, and we'll get a head start on the bloodwork."

"Thank you," Alex sighed, smiling in relief. Kara tried to say thank you, too, but she just coughed on Alex's shoulder again.

"Can I have more water?" the sleepy blonde girl asked hoarsely as drew in a slow, steadying breath. She sat up a little straighter and rubbed her eyes, detaching herself from her girlfriend's body now as two of the medics wheeled in a rolling gurney to take her out of the lab, finally, and down to the med bay, where she would at least have a real bed with pillows and blankets, even if they weren't her own.

"Of course, baby," Alex smiled encouragingly, handing the water bottle back to her girlfriend, who gulped it down like she hadn't had a drink in days.

"Thanks," Kara murmured, turning her head away from Alex and cupping a hand to her face to cover a stuffy sneeze.

"Bless you," Alex gave her girlfriend a sympathetic little half-smile as she passed her the box of tissues from beside the computer console. Kara grumbled as she snatched one and wiped her nose, sniffling sharply.

"I really...don't...like this..." Kara hitched softly, fighting to keep her eyes open as her lungs took in a deep, involuntary breath. _"Hht'chhxiew!"_ Her whole body shuddered as she pitched forward on the lab table and sneezed into her lap, pushing her nose into the tissue as hard as she could. It didn't stop the sneeze from tumbling out of her head, but it felt better that way. Plus, she didn't want to infect the entire DEO with her gross alien germs. What if she made the normal human cold germs come out all mutated and freaky, and started an accidental epidemic?

"Bless you honey," Alex said again gently, kissing Kara's feverish forehead while the blonde girl wiped her nose again. "I know you feel so awful right now...but you're gonna be okay, Kar. I promise. Now c'mere..." the dark-haired girl scooped her girlfriend into her arms, picking her up off the cold, hard lab table and depositing her gently on the waiting gurney. Kara curled up on her side, which was a much more comfortable position than being flat on her back, with her breathing so stuffed up. She sighed softly and closed her eyes.

Alex rested one hand protectively on her girlfriend's back, walking slowly beside the gurney as Kara was wheeled down to the med bay, where the one private isolation room had been set up for her, with the IV pole ready and waiting beside the bed. Dr. Schwartzman walked in, snapping on a pair of sterile latex gloves. Kara looked over warily at the IV needle, her face going slightly green. She'd been more than a little embarrassed about how she'd reacted when they'd first drawn her blood for testing an hour ago; she'd never been stuck with a needle before, and she'd practically jumped off the table, then for a minute she was very, very dizzy, and Alex thought she was going to faint. Kara whined softly. She really didn't want that to happen again.

"Don't look at the needle, just look at me," Alex said gently, as she scooped the blonde girl up again and transferred her from the gurney onto the hospital bed. It might not be _her_ bed, but it was a bed, and Kara cuddled up to the pillow gratefully, burrowing into it as if she could escape through it back into a world that made sense.

"Lexie, no, I don't want the IV," Kara begged, far beyond the point of embarrassment as her eyes welled up with tears again. "Just let me sleep, I'll be okay...I just need to sleep for a while..." The doctor was on the verge of opening her mouth to tell Kara once again that her treatment plan wasn't optional; but Alex looked up at her sharply, and Dr. Schwartzman closed her mouth, willing to let their top agent take the lead if she thought she could convince Supergirl to cooperate and stop arguing. It wasn't as if Kara had the ability to physically stop them now; but the idea of tying her down to stick a needle in her arm wasn't anyone's first choice.

"Shh, you're okay bluebird...you're okay, I've got you," Alex hummed gently, tucking Kara under the covers and climbing in next to her, stroking her hair protectively. "I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you, Kara. You know that. But you have to let us take care of you...just like _you_ always take care of _me_ when I need it, even when I'm a grumpy little fuck." Kara laughed softly, but it turned into a cough almost instantly. Alex rubbed her back. "You're gonna feel better after we get these meds in you, okay? I promise." Alex stroked a few tears from Kara's cheek.

"Okay..." The blonde alien girl sighed miserably, looking only at Alex as she held out her arm for Dr. Schwartzman. "Will you please...distract me?" She begged. The dark-haired girl smiled gently and locked her eyes with the teary blue ones next to her, keeping one hand lightly on the side of her girlfriend's flushed face as she started to sing softly.

"For you, there'll be no more crying...for you, the sun will be shining...and I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright...I know it's right..." Out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw Dr. Schwartzman gently inserting the needle into the crook of Kara's elbow, and taping it down; Kara barely flinched, her attention focused solely on Alex's adoring voice. Alex didn't see any reason to stop singing.

"And the songbirds are singing, like they know the score...and I love you, I love you, I love you,  
like never before..." Kara kept her attention focused on Alex for as long as she could; but once the heavy doses of drugs entered her bloodstream, it wasn't long before her exhausted blue eyes swam out of focus, and she cuddled up closer to her girlfriend's protective body, falling asleep within minutes.

…...

Once Kara was out, Alex's predictions were proved right; being moved back into the lab and put on the hard plastic table didn't wake her up, making the scans quick and easy. Within five minutes, the DEO medics had enough scans to draft a _Kryptonian Illness for Dummies_ guidebook. They sent Kara back to her room in the med bay, and she stayed asleep for almost twelve hours straight, Alex by her side the whole time. When she woke up, it was morning, and she sat bolt upright in bed with a squeaky gasp of shock, like she'd just had a glass of cold water thrown in her face.

"Ms. Grant!" she exclaimed anxiously, wincing when the movement pulled slightly on the IV needle taped into the crook of her arm.

"No, I'm Alex," the dark-haired girl joked gently, sitting up beside her woozy, disoriented girlfriend and putting one steadying hand on her back. "How are you feeling today, sunshine?" Alex put aside the iPad she'd been looking at while Kara slept, reviewing the status of the med team's research findings over the last twelve hours. So far it was a whole lot of theories and not much more. On the plus side, Kara had gotten a good night's sleep, her vitals were stable, and her temp hadn't gone up much during the night. She wasn't getting better yet, but she also wasn't getting any worse. It was possible that the Vitamin D drip and the antibiotics were working.

"No...I have to call Ms. Grant," Kara shook her head, dropping back limply against the bed next to Alex and leaning her head against her girlfriend's arm. "It's Monday...I'm s'posed to be at work...what time is it?" Kara started to cough, and Alex rubbed her back, handing her a glass of water from the bedside table.

"It's only six forty-five, Kar. Shh, you've got plenty of time to call in. First answer my question. How are you feeling?" Alex pressed, smoothing stray locks of sleep-mussed blonde hair back from her girlfriend's pale face.

"Like someone poured glue in my head, punched me in the face, and scrubbed out the inside of my chest with a wire brush," Kara answered honestly, rubbing her sweaty forehead. "And...is it possible to feel hot and cold at the same time? My body feels...confused."

"Those are fever chills, honey. It'll pass," Alex assured her, smiling a little at the sweetly childlike ways the blonde alien girl tried to express the physical sensations of sickness she had never experienced before. "D'you want to eat a little, hmm bluebird? You've been asleep a long time. You must be hungry."

"I am...I think," Kara said slowly, frowning inscrutably. "But I can't think of anything I want to eat...is that...totally insane?" Alex handed her a tissue before she sneezed, hearing the tickle in her cute, sick little alien's voice as she stubbornly fought to finish her sentence. "Hhuh... _hh'chxshh!"_ She rubbed her runny nose in the tissue with one hand, scared to move her arm with the IV in it.

"Bless you." Alex kissed her forehead. Kara made a miserable, whiny sound and pressed her face against Alex's arm again. "And no, it's not insane. Not when you're sick. Why do you think it's so hard for you to get _me_ to eat when I have a fever? If I have to eat when I'm sick then you do, too. C'mon, anything you want baby. Anything." Alex smiled with such sincerity, Kara couldn't help smiling back, despite how awful she felt.

"Chocolate chip pancakes? With extra syrup?" The blonde girl asked hopefully.

"Your wish is my command," Alex winked, and Kara smiled weakly again. Then she coughed, and winced, pressing a hand against her collarbone.

"Ow. Fuck."

"I'll bring you some hot tea while you're waiting for your pancakes, okay baby?" Alex hummed, stroking her hair again.

"No. You stay. Other people can make tea," Kara whined softly, burrowing into Alex's side again.

"Okay," Alex agreed easily, desperate to give Kara whatever she wanted right now, whatever might possibly make her feel even a little bit better.

"And give me my phone...I have to call Ms. Grant. ...She can't fire me for being sick, right? I have lots of vacation days stored up. I never use them."

"She's not going to fire you, Kara. News flash, your boss adores you. Plus you just saved her kid's life."

"Are you high? Ms. Grant _tolerates_ me. And it wasn't Kara Danvers who saved Carter. That was Supergirl," Kara shook her head weakly, wiping her nose on a fresh tissue absently.

"It was both," Alex disagreed sternly.

"I'm too tired to argue..." Kara sighed. "Just hand me my phone." Alex did, and Kara hit the first button on her speed-dial with dread in the pit of her stomach. When she'd called out of work because _Alex_ was sick, she had felt absolutely no guilt and no hesitation. But now, she felt weak and ashamed and guilty, and if Ms. Grant got mad at her, there was a very real chance that she might just start crying. Rule number one at CatCo was no crying. She closed her eyes and huddled up more snugly against Alex in the narrow hospital bed, and Alex hugged her close, sensing her girlfriend's feverish anxiety.

"Kira! Good morning," Ms. Grant said almost cheerfully when she picked up the phone, which Kara actually found slightly disorienting. "Carter just left for school, it's too bad you missed him. I'm sure he would've liked to say hello."

"Oh...that's so nice," Kara sighed, momentarily losing her train of thought as she remembered the previous three days and how much fun they'd had playing at family life with the sweet, smart, energetic little boy. "I really liked him, you know. He's...what's that expression...? He's a _good egg,"_ Kara smiled sleepily. Alex chuckled a little, listening to Kara's end of the conversation. Hopefully Ms. Grant was smart enough to realize that Kara was loopy because she was sick, not drunk at 7am. But then the distinction was made perfectly clear when Kara gave a raspy, wheezing cough, the kind of cough that could not possibly be mistaken for a "no reason" cough, or a "someone on the sidewalk just blew cigarette smoke in my face" cough. It was, unmistakably, a sick cough.

"Goodness, Kira, are you all right? You sound sick. Are you sick?" Ms. Grant demanded, sounding more worried than angry; but Kara was pretty sure she must be imagining that protective tone of voice.

"Uhhh...yeah," the blonde girl sighed shamefully, closing her eyes and cuddling up tighter against Alex for comfort and reassurance. "I know you're mad, but _don't_ be mad, 'kay? I tried to get up, I really really tried. But Alex won't let me. Please don't fire me," Kara begged, with another cough against Alex's chest, that was immediately followed by a weak, congested sneeze.

"Bless you," Alex and Ms. Grant both said at the same time, though neither of them could hear the other. Kara smiled a little shyly as she wiped her nose.

"Kira, I'm not going to fire you," Ms. Grant sighed, in a much gentler voice than Kara had ever heard her use before. "It's not your fault if you're sick. Rest up and listen to Alex, all right? She's a very smart girl."

"But...you hate when people get sick," Kara sniffled, confused and disoriented by Ms. Grant's uncharacteristic response to her assistant failing to perform her duties. She didn't sound annoyed at all. She didn't even sound like she was silently rolling her eyes.

"No, I hate when people _bring_ sickness into my office," Ms. Grant corrected soothingly. She was still speaking to Kara in an almost loving tone, reassuring and even a little protective. Kara was beginning to wonder if she was hallucinating. "But you had the good sense to stay home where you belong. So just stay put and don't worry about anything but resting and getting better, all right sweetheart?" Kara smiled sleepily, unaware of the wide-eyed look of horror on her boss's face at the other end of the call when the older woman realized she'd just accidentally addressed her assistant so lovingly, almost like a daughter. That had _not_ been intentional.

"Oh...okay..." Kara yawned, with a soft little sniffle as she wiped her nose on her wrist. Alex passed her a fresh tissue. "Why're you being so nice to me...?"

"Because you deserve it," Ms. Grant said simply. "Now can I please speak to Alex? She's there with you, I take it?"

"Uh-huh," Kara yawned, holding the phone out to her girlfriend. "She wandts to talk to you. _*Snf.*"_

"Why?" Alex asked, looking slightly alarmed. Kara just shrugged and pushed the phone into her hand, too tired to speculate.

"Umm...hello Ms. Grant," Alex said a little nervously. "What can I do for you?"

"You can take damn good care of that girl, that's what you can do," Ms. Grant said brusquely, surprising Alex as much as she had surprised Kara a moment ago. "She's worked for me for over two years, and she's never been sick once. I doubt she knows the first _thing_ about how to take care of herself in this state. _You_ have to make sure she's hydrated and medicated and resting properly. Can I trust you to do that, Agent Grey?"

"Of course," Alex assured the older woman, flabbergasted at this new side of Cat Grant. Apparently behind the claws, was a bit of a mother lion. "I'm already doing all those things, Ms. Grant. I promise you. Kara couldn't be in better hands." Alex didn't add that those hands included an entire secret intergalactic paramilitary operation with state-of-the-art alien med tech.

"Well, good. And if she starts to talk about work, you need to distract her. I don't want her stressing out over my bullpen right now. She needs rest."

"Yes ma'am," Alex nodded, with a stunned little smile. "We're completely on the same page. Please don't worry. I'm not taking my eyes off her."

"See that you don't," Ms. Grant said brusquely. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a conference call with London and Berlin to prep for." The line went dead before Alex even had a chance to say goodbye, and she put the phone aside with a stunned, thoughtful look on her face.

"What did she say?" Kara asked curiously, taking another tissue from the box Alex had deposited in her lap, and pushing it firmly up against her runny nose, completely distracted from her train of thought as her breath rose and fell teasingly a few times. "Ughh...s-stop it," the blonde girl whined softly behind her tissue, and Alex got the distinct impression that Kara was talking directly to her body, losing patience with all these new unpleasant things it was doing to her, none of which she could control. "Hhhuh... _*snfl*...hhtiiishew!"_

"Aww, my poor little bluebird... _bless_ you, baby," Alex cooed, stroking Kara's hair as the blonde girl pulled several more tissues from the box and made a brave attempt at blowing her nose, an awkward and uncomfortable skill she had not totally mastered overnight.

"Fuck this," Kara grumbled moodily, rolling carefully onto her side to avoid jostling her IV, and rubbing her nose into Alex's arm instead. It felt a lot better than tissues. Alex chuckled a little.

"God dammit, how do you make _everything_ cute? You're wiping your snotty nose on my sleeve, and you're still cute," the dark-haired girl shook her head, grinning affectionately. "And I'm not the only one who thinks so—Ms. Grant just basically yelled at me to make sure I'm taking care of you properly. I told you, your boss adores you. And who could blame her?" Alex leaned down and kissed Kara's forehead, stroking her long hair absently.

"...Do I still get chocolate chip pancakes?" the blonde girl asked sheepishly.

…...

The two girls were halfway through an episode of Homeland on Alex's laptop, cuddled up on Kara's narrow hospital bed with the blonde alien basically using her girlfriend as a human-sized teddy bear. Not that Alex was complaining; the closer she was to Kara right now, the calmer she felt. She had one hand resting in Kara's hair at the back of her neck when the door to the med bay opened, and Hank walked in carrying what looked like a breakfast tray.

"Pancakes?" Kara murmured hopefully, raising her head slightly from Alex's chest.

"Pancakes," Hank confirmed with a small smile, putting the tray on the bedside table. There were two plates of chocolate chip pancakes, one steaming mug of tea and one tall glass of milk. Next to the milk, there was also a small paper cup full of pills. Alex frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Are those supposed to be for me?" She asked in confusion, pointing.

"Not much gets past my top agent," Hank smiled a little wider, teasing. Alex barely restrained herself from sticking her tongue out at him.

"Why do _I_ have to take meds? I'm not sick," the dark-haired agent complained indignantly.

"Well considering the fact that you're a top-ranking DEO agent and you have a PhD in Bioengineering, Agent Grey...why don't you tell me?" Hank asked conversationally, pulling up a chair beside the bed. Alex rolled her eyes. Kara grinned sleepily. She was enjoying this...just a little.

"Standard-issue immune-enhancers to be used in the event of any exposure to biohazards," Alex sighed in a slightly adolescent voice, like she was reciting something from a textbook. "My girlfriend is not a biohazard!"

"Probably not," Hank agreed, patting her arm. "But we don't take chances like that around here. You know you'd say the same thing to any other agent in the same situation."

"Just shut up and take the pills, Lex," Kara yawned, having said these words to Alex enough in the past to know that she would listen. "I've had a needle stuck in my arm all night. You just have to swallow some pills. Wanna trade?"

"You're right, I'm sorry babe," Alex murmured apologetically, stroking her thumb across Kara's cheek and leaning down to kiss her lightly on the lips. Kara smiled; then she closed her eyes with a little whimpery sigh and cupped a hand to her face, still holding a crumpled tissue absentmindedly.

 _"Hhh'tcxshh!"_ Her head ducked down against Alex's chest when she sneezed, and Alex rubbed her back consolingly.

"Bless you," the dark-haired girl murmured, kissing the top of her head. Hank handed her a few more tissues from beside the bed.

"Thag you," Kara sighed wearily, making another diligent attempt to blow her nose properly. "But I thought... _*snf*_...you're not supposed to kiss someone who's sick? Aren't you gonna catch my germs now?" Kara looked suddenly anxious and guilty. This had never come up before, because Kara had never had to worry about catching germs from _Alex_ when _she_ was sick. Germs were irrelevant to Kara. Usually.

"You _wiped your nose on my sleeve,"_ Alex pointed at her arm, grinning indulgently at her sweet little alien who was still so protective of her, even now, even like this. "I think that ship has sailed. Plus, I'm about to take a small pharmacy's worth of military-grade immune enhancers. I just wanted to make it worthwhile, is all." Kara giggled a little, and coughed, and Hank handed her the steaming cup of tea from the tray. Alex raised one eyebrow approvingly at her commanding officer, doting over Kara like she was his own kid. He'd always treated Alex the same way. It wasn't as if it was the Director-in-Chief's job to deliver breakfast trays to the med bay. He was here because he wanted to be.

"All right, stop being cute and eat. Both of you." Hank passed them each a plate of pancakes, and neither one of them argued. Kara was eating very slowly, but she was eating. Alex practically inhaled hers, having completely ignored her own body's needs since she'd brought Kara back to the DEO the night before.

"Pills," Henshaw reminded her gruffly, nodding to the little paper cup still sitting beside her plate. Alex rolled her eyes and tossed back the whole mouthful of pills at once, gulping down her milk to wash them down.

"There, do I get my gold star now?" She asked sarcastically, but with a smile.

"How about a special commendation for biggest brat in a secret underground government agency?" Hank asked, trying and failing to keep his tone of voice flat and serious. Kara just listened to them banter, keeping her entertained as she valiantly worked on forcing food into her body. This was another new and very unpleasant experience; Kara had _never_ not wanted to eat. Not like this. Eating chocolate chip pancakes and not even enjoying it was very depressing. But watching her girlfriend and their boss tease each other like father and daughter made an excellent distraction.

Then, suddenly, the room started to shake. No, not the room— _everything_. An earthquake. Kara barely had time to process what was happening before everything went dark, as Hank threw himself onto the bed on top of them, protecting them from falling debris with his own body. It didn't last long, maybe twenty seconds; but twenty seconds feels like a long time when the entire world is literally falling and shaking. Kara and Alex _both_ felt a heavy blow on Hank's back above them, and they were scared he'd just had his spine pulverized; but when the shaking finally stopped, he jumped straight back up on his feet like he'd just done a few push-ups or something.

"Grey? Danvers? Are you both all right?"

"Yeah," they both said at the same time, sitting straight up in the raised hospital bed to look around the damaged room. There were two very large hunks of rock on either side of the bed that looked like they'd fit together to make one big rock...one big rock that fell on Hank and somehow, instead of breaking him in half, _he_ broke _it_ in half?

"Sir?" Alex said uncertainly. But before she could even voice her question, the red containment alarm went off, meaning one or more alien prisoners had escaped from their hi-tech cells. Thick blast doors sealed off every exit from the DEO to the fresh air and sunlight above. They were locked in. "Oh, this is fun," Alex muttered to herself.

"Everyone into the control room, _now_ ," Henshaw barked, shifting instantly back from father-figure mode to DEO Director mode. Alex hopped off the bed immediately, and Kara went to follow her; but the IV was tugging on her arm. The blonde girl reached unflinchingly to pull the needle out of her skin so she could follow Alex; but Alex stopped her.

"No. Don't do that, Kar. You need that."

"Not as much as I need to not be eaten by an escaped Fort Rozz prisoner!" Kara exclaimed indignantly. "Besides...I can _help_..." She rubbed her forehead briskly, trying to shake off the woozy haze she'd been in since the day before and sharpen her focus.

"You can help by staying alive," Alex said in a quiet, but very fierce tone, as she unhooked the IV pole from the side of the hospital bed, four little wheels popping out as it was released from the bedframe. The IV pole was mobile; Kara could walk with it.

"Fine," Kara sighed, still lacking the energy to argue. She held onto her IV pole with one hand and followed Alex to the control room, Hank bringing up the rear behind them with his weapon drawn. Once they were all in the control room, Hank and Alex went straight into disaster mode, Alex checking that all of their people were accounted for while Hank went through the prison roster status logs to see which ones had blown out in the quake. Kara felt useless, worried, and as much as she hated to admit it, sick and weak and desperate to be lying down in her crappy hospital bed again. She sat down against the wall and tucked her knees up to her chest. She started to cough, which drew Alex's attention back to her.

"Are you okay baby?" the dark-haired girl asked anxiously, knowing how little she could do about it if the answer was no.

"Yeah...I think so," Kara sighed, rubbing her forehead again. "This is real, right? ...I'm not having bad dreams?"

"This is real," Alex sighed, stroking Kara's blonde hair back from her face. "We've got two escaped prisoners, But the blast doors closed in time. We're sending out alpha and beta teams for capture and containment. You just stay put, Kar. Stay right here. I won't let anything happen to you." Kara's blue eyes welled up with angry tears.

"How can I just _sit_ here?" She exclaimed desperately, looking around them at all the other agents charging into action, verifying backup power systems, communications, ammo.

"Kara, there is _nothing_ you can do," Alex said fiercely, almost snarling at the girl she loved best. "I'm begging you, bluebird. I'm _begging_ you. Stay here, stay safe. If you get yourself killed, I'll find a way to bring you back to life just so I can kill you again."

"Okay...okay," Kara gave in and agreed submissively for once, knowing Alex was right. "But that goes for you too, y'know. No getting killed." Alex smiled a little sadly and kissed her.

"See you soon."

With the help of their backup generators, the control room techs were able to maintain audio contact with both alpha and beta squads; Hank's team, alpha squad, was going after a ruthlessly sadistic telepathic alien king named Gem, while Alex's beta squad went after Vartox, their guns loaded with kryptonite darts. Kara knew Alex could handle herself, but she was still going a little stir-crazy not being able to help, hearing what was happening so close by but being powerless to do anything about it. She sat in silence against the wall as the rest of the control room operatives went about their business, wishing more than anything that her stupid fever would go away so she could go under the stupid solar panels and get her stupid powers back, _now_.

It felt like a long time later (but it probably wasn't that long; Kara's sense of time was rather fuzzy at the moment) when Alex was kneeling down in front of her again, pulling off her combat helmet with a reassuring smile, though she was panting like she'd just run a marathon.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Alex asked gently, pressing the back of her hand against Kara's forehead to feel her temp.

"I should be asking _you_ that," Kara said, leaning forward into Alex's arms and holding onto her as tightly as she could.

"We got Vartox, we're okay," Alex assured her, hugging her close.

"What about Hank's team?"

That was when they both heard screams of agony over the audio link to the alpha team, and one of the receivers went dead. Vasquez was yelling the alpha agents' names over and over through the comm link, but no one was responding. "What about Hank?" Kara asked again.

"We're going to get him," Alex said stonily, standing up and holstering her gun. "Vasquez, what do we have left in the armory?"

"Right here? Three grenades, a bazooka, and two uzi's," the communications officer listed. "But, ma'am...with Director Henshaw unaccounted for, you're the ranking officer in the room. If we lose you too..."

"You're not losing me. We're not losing Henshaw. We're not losing _anyone_ today," Alex said in a very authoritative voice, looking around at all the agents who were now under her command. "Gamma team, grab everything but the bazooka. We're getting Henshaw back, and we're putting that sadistic psychic psycho back in his fishbowl. Let's go." The team followed Alex's orders unquestioningly. Kara's heart was pounding fast and she started to shake; not from her fever, but from the rising tide of terror that she was about to lose the person that mattered most in the whole universe, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

"Don't die, Lexie," She choked out as her girlfriend knelt back down beside her on the floor, hugging each other one more time. "Please, please..."

"I'm right here, bluebird," Alex murmured steadily, holding Kara's face with both hands. "Just hang tight a little longer, I promise it's gonna be okay Kar. I _promise_ you." Alex leaned in and kissed her, and before Kara even had a chance to react, Alex was up and gone with the gamma team at her back. Kara closed her eyes, trying not to listen to the sounds coming from the comm link...there was screaming, gunfire...then after a few minutes of silence that felt like an eternity, the door to the prisoner bay opened, and Alex walked in...holding a gun to her own head. Her eyes were wide an terrified.

"Alex?" Kara murmured, pushing herself up against the wall in horror at the inexplicable sight in front of her.

"Don't look, Kara," Alex whispered, as tears welled up in her dark eyes and slid down her cheeks. Gem walked into the control room behind her. "I'm sorry..."

"Kara Zor-El...the last heir of Krypton," the sadistic alien king grinned. His skin was purple, his head large and filled with deadly sharp teeth. But that wasn't what made him scary. It was the glowing gem in the middle of his forehead, that gave him the power to see into the minds of anyone he wished (anyone except Kryptonians, that is), and force them to do his bidding with the sheer force of his will. "I have long awaited the day I could take revenge on your mother for dooming me to eternal banishment."

"You want me? Come and get me!" Kara yelled, her hands balling up into fists at her side. Gem just laughed, a cruel, deep, rumbling laugh.

"I cannot see inside your mind, Kryptonian, but I can see inside the mind of this human. I know that you are powerless to stop me...weaker even than these humans now," he leered at her, taking in her pale skin, the glassy, fevered look in her eyes, the needle taped into the crook of her arm delivering a continuous flow of medicine directly into her bloodstream. It was almost too easy, defeating her this way. Almost. "This foolish human values your life above her own. She would rather die than cause you pain. So I thought...why not achieve both at once?" The wicked alien king gave a twisted grin. Kara understood with a sickening jolt to her stomach what Gem was going to do. He was going to make Alex shoot herself in the head, right in front of Kara. He didn't want to _kill_ Kara...he wanted revenge. A lifetime of pain for her, as her mother had decreed upon him. _That_ was his justice.

"No..." Kara whispered desperately, in the half-second it took for Alex's hand to cock the gun against her temple, her finger just beginning to squeeze the trigger. Her eyes locked with Kara's, both of them crying, trapped, powerless.

That was when Agent Vasquez glanced over at Kara, and noticed something very peculiar—the IV needle pushing itself backwards out of her arm, popping out of her skin and swaying lightly beside the pole it was hanging from. There was no blood, no mark on Kara's skin where the needle had just been a moment ago. It was less than half a second, but Vasquez understood what had just happened. In the same moment, all the color rushed back into Kara's face, her heart exploding with adrenalin, and without pausing for conscious thought, she leapt off the ground and flew at Alex, whipping the gun out of her girlfriend's hand the moment before it went off, shooting harmlessly at the ceiling. The blonde girl crushed the gun into a ball of crumpled metal with one hand and threw it aside, then flew at the escaped prisoner, her blue eyes blazing with a protective fury that none of the DEO agents had ever seen in her before. She smashed Gem up into the ceiling, threw him across the room into the wall; and because, as he himself had just admitted, his telepathy didn't work on her, there was very little he could do to retaliate. The jewel in the center of his forehead smashed when Kara threw him into the wall; and Alex took a deep breath, stumbling back onto the floor in a heap, like she'd just been released from a choke-hold. Kara just kept punching the purple alien king until he was unconscious. Henshaw came limping back into the control room through another tunnel, supporting two injured agents on either side of him. They weren't dead; they'd just lost radio contact.

Kara floated back down to the floor, dumping the unconscious alien at her feet. Clad in the black DEO fatigues, the blonde girl looked like a flying ninja from a Kung Fu movie. "Thanks," she said to the unconscious prisoner when three agents rushed up and hastily began securing him to return to his cell. "I'm feeling much better now."


	11. I Spy

Hey Supergang!

Sorry you had to wait a little longer for this chapter...usually my job here is just to write down everything I see in my head, and I can't stop until I get it all out, and for a while I was sustaining a pretty intense pace because I just kept seeing the next scene, and the next scene...and then after the last chap, I saw only the _first_ scene of this next one, no idea what was gonna happen next. So I just kind of had to wait. I alternated between thinking about it and not thinking about it. And then boom, last night on the bus I saw the WHOLE THING all at once. And luckily I had the day off work today, so I wrote this whole chapter in one day. Yes. You're welcome! :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Part 11: I Spy**

…...

"Higher!" Alex called out, laughing as she yelled in Kara's ear through the rushing winds. "I wanna go above the cloud line!" Kara didn't answer, but Alex could feel her girlfriend's smile. A second later, they were shooting up through the clouds, soaring above a landscape of floating white puffballs, nothing around them but dazzling blue sky and the bright yellow sun.

"Put your arms out!" Kara yelled, and Alex obeyed unquestioningly, letting go of the tandem harness that kept her strapped to Kara's back which Winn had so thoughtfully designed for them. Now they could fly together without having to hold onto each other, leaving both their hands free; this was their first test-run. They'd tried to pretend this was a practical concern, that they'd use it for work purposes; and they would, no question. But they both knew that wasn't what Kara was thinking about when she asked Winn to design it. The real reason was _this_ , right now. Alex had been there for Kara when the blonde girl was going through something she'd never experienced before, something completely wretched and debilitating; and if Alex hadn't been there, Kara was pretty sure she would've just been hiding under a blanket crying for the entire 24 hour period when she was sick. And she probably would've been sick a lot longer, too, if Alex almost getting shot in the head hadn't triggered her adrenalin-rush reset button that she never knew she had. Now, she wanted to give Alex something _she'd_ never experienced before: the ability to fly without holding onto anything, without holding onto Kara, without having to think. Just soaring, like a bird. Free.

As the dark-haired girl held out her arms at her sides, Kara raised hers, too, pointing slightly more forward, and they rocketed into a wide, upward spiral, riding the air currants at just enough of an angle that the wind became like a tunnel around them, and they were just riding the current, letting it rush them along, higher and higher, twisting up towards the sun. They were both laughing hysterically off the intense adrenalin high of flying together like this, no mission, no bad guys. Just Kara and Alex and the bright blue sky.

"Kar?" Alex panted when they finally came out of the spiral, cruising at a slower, more relaxed pace through the infinite blue above the cloud cover.

"Yeah?" Kara asked, wishing she could unbuckle the harness just for a moment, so she could flip Alex around and kiss her. The blonde superhero could feel her girlfriend's heart pounding fast against her back, feel her blood rushing through her body; they were so connected like this, up here all alone in the blue.

"When you're out here flying like this...do you ever get...kind of turned on?" Alex asked a little shyly, reaching her arms forward to slide over Kara's, their fingers intertwining in the rushing air.

"Usually, no..." Kara smiled, her x-ray eyes scanning through the cloud cover in search of a certain, private landing spot that she may have visited earlier in the day. "I usually just get lots of adrenalin, or I get all peaceful and zen out. But _usually_ , I'm not up in the sky with _you_..." Beaming at the sound of Alex's giggles, Kara pointed her nose down slightly toward a spot in the clouds, and rocketed them down to earth, where a secluded oceanside cliff awaited. There, Alex saw, a soft picnic blanket was laid out with a basket of snacks and drinks beside it, miles away from anyone but the birds. When they touched down, all they had to do to release themselves from the dual harness was unhook a heavy metal snap on each side, and suddenly they were facing each other again, kissing and sighing and holding each other by their hair.

"How do I take this thing off?" Kara asked breathlessly, struggling with the parachute-style harness that was still strapped to her body. Alex quickly undid the buckles, having, obviously, a lot more experience with military parachutes than her flying girlfriend. Kara smiled, kicked off her boots and peeled off her Supergirl suit, dropping it in the grass next to her and leaving her in nothing but a pair of red cotton panties.

"Kara..." Alex sighed blissfully, pulling her sweet alien in by the small of her back and kissing her, slowly, teasingly. "You're so beautiful, it breaks my heart..."

"Straps off. Straps off," Kara begged impatiently, pulling gently at the harness still strapped to Alex's body. The blonde girl could rip the thing to shreds in an instant, of course; but she didn't want to wreck it. Flying with Alex this way was too much fun.

Alex followed her girlfriend's command, undoing her own flying harness as fast as she could and then pulling off her tight black DEO uniform, allowing Kara to push her back onto the soft blanket and kiss her like it was the end of the world, like this was the last kiss they'd ever get. Kara undid the front clasp of Alex's black lace bra, pushing it back off her shoulders as they moved against each other on the grassy cliffside, miles from the nearest road or human being, lost completely in each other, skin to skin.

That was when Kara's bluetooth earring went off. Only the DEO and Alex had the ability to contact her this way; it wasn't as if she could just let it go to voicemail. With an animalistic growl of frustration, Kara sat up on top of Alex, panting slightly as she tapped her earring. "This had better be a fucking emergency, or I am melting someone's face," the blonde girl snarled.

"You might want to hold off on that once I tell you what we're tracking," Hank said through the earpiece, his voice all business. That took the wind out of Kara's sails slightly, even as her body protested the loss of skin-to-skin contact with Alex. "I'm sorry, Danvers, I know you're both on leave today, but I thought you'd want to know. General Lane just showed up again, and he's tracking your Aunt Astra. If he finds her before we do..." He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't have to. They both knew what would happen. A massive military standoff with Astra's army that would cost countless innocent lives. The DEO _had_ to get to Astra first, they just had to.

"I understand...thanks Chief," Kara sighed, lying back down on top of Alex and rolling onto one hip so she was sort of half on top of her girlfriend, and half on the blanket. "Let me know when...when there's something to know. Whoever finds her first, I'll be there. Whether it's you or General Lane." Alex went tense underneath her, arms wrapping protectively around her girlfriend's body at the mention of the General's name. Alex had been no fan of the man to begin with, but now, after what happened to Kara with Red Tornado...the young DEO agent was ready to rip the pompous egomaniac's balls off with her bare hands and shove them down his throat.

"Copy that, Danvers. I'll try not to bother you again today unless it's absolutely necessary. Tell Alex the DEO is watching your back, okay? _Both_ your backs."

"Will do, Sir. We appreciate it." Kara tapped her earring, ending the call, and dropped her head down against Alex's shoulder with a groan.

 _"What_ the fuck is General Lane doing back in town?!" Alex growled, one hand holding Kara possessively around her hips.

"Same as us. Looking for Astra. Presumably, different plans for what to do _after_ finding her," Kara sighed, nuzzling up to Alex's throat and tracing her fingers teasingly over her girlfriend's bellybutton. "But I don't want to worry about that right now..." She pushed herself up on one elbow, grinning devilishly as she looked down into Alex's dark eyes, her long blonde hair spilling down her arm like a curtain, brushing teasingly over Alex's skin. "Right now...I only want to be here with you, Lexie." They smiled at each other like kids in a candy store for a moment before Kara leaned down and kissed her girlfriend again, making Alex arch her back like a cat, raking her nails hard down Kara's skin with no fear of hurting her.

"I'm gonna make you scream so hard," Alex growled, her dark eyes shining.

"Why do you think I brought you all the way out here?" Kara asked happily, slightly breathless. There were very few situations that had the power to render Kara Zor-El Danvers breathless. This was one of them. The light ocean breeze cooled the sweat on their bare skin as the world around them completely fell away, and they got lost in a universe of only each other.

…...

After an uncountable numbers of orgasms (not that either one of them was trying to keep count), they both fell asleep for a little while, limp and blissed out in each other's arms. When they woke up, they dove straight into the picnic basket Kara had packed, not bothering to dress first since they were still completely alone with the ocean, the sky and the birds. Besides, after they re-fueled on donuts and chocolate milk and strawberries, they were probably just going to keep ravaging each other until they fell asleep again...as long as they still had food in the picnic basket, the two girls had no plans to move from their idyllic spot.

That is, until Kara sat up with a little squeak of surprise, staring straight up into the sky with a furiously indignant expression in her clear blue eyes. "What the _fuck?"_ The blonde girl growled, zooming back into her clothes and throwing Alex's at her before the dark-haired girl even had a chance to fully raise her head and process what she was seeing: a small black object in the sky hovering over them, propelled by helicopter blades. A drone. Probably a military drone, sent by that pompous ass General Lane to spy on Kara since he had failed to kill her outright. Alex held her clothes protectively over her body so she was covered, even if she couldn't put them back on as fast as Kara could.

"Did you enjoy the free porn, asshole?!" Alex yelled up fiercely at the sky, as Kara shot off the ground and went after it. The drone was fast, faster than any the young Kryptonian had ever seen before; it darted from one direction to another with a level of maneuverability that seemed impossible for an inanimate object. It took Kara a while to chase it down, bringing her all the way back to the city before she finally shot it down with her laser eyes over a skyscraper roof. As soon as she touched down and picked up the smoldering remains of the drone, she knew she'd been wrong—it wasn't military. As much as she wanted to blame General Lane for everything right now, she couldn't ignore what was right in front of her. There were no military or government markings, no serial number, nothing. She had no idea where it had come from. But, she knew one person who could figure it out. With the wrecked drone in hand, she shot back into the sky to Alex. At least they'd gotten _half_ a day's vacation...next time, Kara decided, she was going to fly them somewhere much, much further away. Maybe one of those tiny unmapped islands scattered around the Pacific Ocean.

…...

Hank was very surprised to see Kara and Alex marching into the DEO control room, thinking they were still enjoying their day off since he had promised to keep them informed if anything important came up. Without even saying hello, Kara dumped the destroyed drone onto the table in front of him.

"Someone's spying on me," She said simply, one hand on her hip, looking slightly agitated—though not nearly as agitated as Alex. "Find out who it is, so I can go punch them real hard."

"I _know_ who it is, Kar, I already told you!" Alex exclaimed in frustration as she started pacing around the control room, too pissed off to stand still.

"You _think_ you know," Kara replied stubbornly, like they'd had this conversation already on the way there, probably more than once. "A hunch is _not_ the same as evidence. General Lane works that way, not us. I would like to _actually_ know who's responsible before I go in all punchy and kicky." Alex growled in frustration, unable to think of a sound counter-argument, because there wasn't one.

"Fine. Have the tech team meet me in my lab, and then we'll tear this thing apart until I can _prove_ to you that Max Lord is spying on you, and then you can have a clear conscience before we go kick his ass," Alex huffed, sweeping her hair back off her face impatiently. "Let's just hope our little sex tape doesn't get posted on YouTube first, huh?" Hank groaned a very fatherly groan, recoiling with one hand over his eyes.

"Dammit, Grey. I can't un-hear that," he complained.

"Neither will the rest of America, Sir," Alex said unrepentantly, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. "Whoever was on the other end of that drone camera, they saw me and Kara... _together_. If they can figure out who _I_ am then they'll know that Supergirl is Kara Danvers in about two seconds. So if we're not gonna violate any civil liberties today, let's get this thing in the lab and figure out where it came from. _Now_." Hank just nodded and got on his comm, paging the tech team to Alex's lab.

"What can I do?" Kara asked anxiously, feeling useless and worried. She wasn't any good with the tech stuff, that was Alex's department. But she had to do _something_.

"Go to work, I guess," Alex sighed, squeezing Kara's hand reassuringly. "I know you can't just go home and watch Netflix while you wait for us to figure this out, but there's really nothing you can do here. Go surprise Ms. Grant, be the employee who gets the day off and then only uses half of it. You know that'll impress the shit out of her," the dark-haired girl grinned, trying to be encouraging. Kara nodded unhappily.

"Okay, I guess...you'll call me the second you know?" the blonde alien girl asked in resignation.

"The very same second," Alex promised, with a little half-smile as she pulled Kara in by her hand, so she could speak softly right into her girlfriend's ear. "And then...maybe we can find another secluded little spot to have some more of that super-loud sex? Because we are really, really good at that," the dark-haired girl purred, making Kara blush as a goofy smile lit up her face. Hank turned away and closed his eyes—even without the use of his telepathy, it was more than obvious what the two young women were talking about in low murmurs across the room.

"We really really are," the blonde girl agreed happily, her fingers twining together with Alex's for a brief moment. "Okay. I'm going. Call me." And just like that, Kara was gone, zipping out of the DEO so fast she didn't even stop to give Alex a goodbye kiss; because she knew that in her current state, she'd be unable to stop once she started. "Stupid insatiable alien libido," she grumbled to herself as she flew across the skyline of National City towards CatCo. "You had sex _all morning_ , can you please chill? We have work to do now."

…...

When Kara walked through the doors of CatCo, there was a palpable sensation of disaster in the air. Everyone was running around frantically, and the many TVs mounted all around the lobby and inner office had headlines like _Cat Grant Hacked_ and _CatCo in Ruins? CEO Shamed_ splashed across their screens. "Oh, Rao," the blonde girl murmured to herself as she looked from one screen to another.

"Winn, what happened?" she asked in a low voice as she approached her friend's desk, stooping down low to speak to him, as if worried that someone else in the office might have super-hearing. After being spied on by an anonymous drone while naked with her girlfriend, she was definitely feeling a little jumpy in the privacy department.

"Kara, what are you _doing_ here? Go back to your day off!" Winn squealed in a harsh whisper, his eyes wide with frayed nerves, looking at her like—well, like she was from another planet. "Of all the days to get out of this place..."

 _"Kira!_ In my office, _now!"_ Ms. Grant's shrill voice cut across the office, sounding furious, which made absolutely no sense since Kara wasn't even supposed to be in the office today. How could she possibly be in trouble?

"I waaaarned you," Winn sang softly, averting his gaze back to his own computer screen as Kara looked over uneasily at her harassed looking boss, sitting at her large desk in her glass office with a whiskey tumbler full of M&Ms in front of her.

"Oh, crap," Kara murmured, her mind taken off her own privacy exploitation as she looked at her boss, whose entire digital life had, apparently, just been made public. Ms. Grant may not realize it, but right now no one knew how she felt more than her assistant.

After rounding up Winn and James and printing out thousands of pages' worth of Ms. Grant's emails, Kara spent the rest of the afternoon using her super-speed to read almost every email her boss had ever written, compiling a list of potential points of embarrassment if the media were to dig any deeper. They didn't find anything so terrible or scandalous, as far as Kara was concerned; except for the bank transfers Ms. Grant was apparently making monthly to an Adam Foster in Opal City, who Kara knew was a real person because she remembered _A. Foster, Opal City_ from the stack of Christmas Cards she'd addressed for Ms. Grant over the holidays. The boys seemed to think Ms. Grant was keeping this anonymous 24-year-old surfer boy on the side, like a sugar mama. Kara _knew_ that couldn't be it; but she couldn't think of any other explanation, and she knew that whatever the truth was, the media would certainly assume what James and Winn had.

Kara stood nervously in the lobby by the board room at the end of the day, waiting for the emergency CatCo board meeting to end so she could report her findings to her boss, as unpleasant a prospect as it was. When the doors finally opened, Ms. Grant hung back chatting politely with several board members while the rest of them streamed out towards the elevators, understandably eager to get back to their own lives after the marathon board meeting. Kara stood patiently at Ms. Grant's shoulder, waiting for her boss in polite silence. _Keep an eye on Dirk Armstrong,_ Cat was saying to the last two board members lingering to speak with her, presumably the ones she actually trusted. _He's as two faced as they come_. Their eyes all flicked toward the middle aged man with greying blonde hair and stylish glasses, about to get on the elevator on the opposite end of the large lobby, which was separated from them by not one, but two glass partitions. Kara's eyes followed her boss's to observe Dirk Armstrong, CatCo Board Chairman; and without even thinking about it, Kara used her super-hearing to zoom in on the conversation between the Chairman, his Vice-chair and Executive Secretary.

 _We've planted the seeds_ , the smug man was saying to his colleagues as he buttoned his blazer, a moment before the elevator doors closed. _Now we just have to wait for the media to reap the fruit. Cat Grant will be ousted by the end of the week_. Kara was so shocked she gasped involuntarily, making Ms. Grant jump beside her and look at her quizzically, in obvious irritation.

"Oh! Um...I just realized...I forgot your latte," Kara stammered lamely, straightening her glasses unnecessarily. "I'll just...go get it now?"

"No, no, we've wasted too much time already," Ms. Grant sighed, waving her hand dismissively. "Chop chop, Kira. Time to debrief." Kara followed anxiously after her boss, bursting to tell Ms. Grant what she'd just overhead with her alien ears; but she couldn't, for obvious reasons, so she shoved the information to the back of her mind for the moment, and focused on giving Ms. Grant what solid information they _did_ have about her public affairs. Most of the list were things the older woman just rolled her eyes at, as Kara knew she would; but when she brought up Adam Foster, there was a palpable shift in her boss's demeanor. She became...still. As if the thing in front of her were too big to go over, under, or around. It was just there.

"Ms. Grant...I know what the media will make of this if they get hold of it," Kara said quietly, while Cat deliberately avoided eye contact. "A powerful woman CEO paying a monthly allowance to some 24-year-old surfer boy...and I _know_ that's not the truth. But if I don't know what _is_ the truth, I don't know how to help. Ms. Grant...who is Adam Foster?" Kara asked gently. Ms. Grant sighed, took off her glasses, and looked at Kara in silence for a long moment.

"Adam Foster is my son," she said calmly. The story of Cat Grant's firstborn child came out so slowly, so hesitantly, Kara felt fairly certain her boss had never told anyone about this, the baby she had given up when she was barely older than Kara was now. The fact that Ms. Grant's son was the same age as Kara herself made the young alien girl feel even more connected, more invested in helping them both. She ached to tell her boss what she'd overhead Dirk Armstrong say in the elevator; but she _couldn't,_ she couldn't just sacrifice her own secrets to save Ms. Grant's. But that was all right; she could tell James and Winn, and _they_ could help her expose Dirk Armstrong, and then the media would have no more reason to go after Cat Grant _or_ Adam Foster.

Kara barely had a chance to fill the boys in on what she'd overheard and set them the task of finding a way to expose Dirk Armstrong's conspiracy plot, when her tiny Supergirl phone went off and she tapped her earring to answer, anxious to hear what Alex had learned about their own recent privacy invasion. "So who's watching our sex tape?" She asked, choosing to skip past the traditional _hello_. The boys both made odd choking sounds and turned away.

"You know who it is, Kar," Alex sighed, sounding very dejected and annoyed for someone who had just been proven right. "And the fun just keeps coming—Astra and her army just attacked Lord Tech. We gotta saddle up, babe."

"Are you _freaking kidding me_ right now, Alex?" Kara demanded, pacing across the abandoned, half-painted office that she, Winn and James used to talk Supergirl business in private. "You want us to go defend the asshole who's spying on us with some super-drone? Let Astra blow the place up!"

"You know you don't mean that, Kara," Alex said gently, even as Kara was already thinking the same thing herself. "We don't get to choose who we protect. We protect everyone. We save the world. And if we can take Astra down, maybe we'll have a shot at finding out what this _Myriad_ thing is before it's too late to do something about it."

"How'd you get so smart, baby?" Kara sighed, still pacing, but at a much slower speed now.

"By listening to you," Alex smiled, and Kara smiled back on the other end of the line. "Now get your cute little caped crusader ass over to Lord Tech pronto. I'm already en route with alpha team, but you'll probably still get there before us. Get to Astra, and we'll evacuate the building."

"Can do. See you in five. Stay safe, Lexie," Kara murmured, tapping her earring to end the call as she looked back up at the boys with the pained sigh of a superhero with too many places to be. "So...that was Alex, my aunt is attacking Lord Tech, I gotta go," she said regretfully.

"Can we go back to the part with the sex tape?" Winn asked in hopeful bewilderment.

"No," Kara said simply, smacking him very gently on the back side of his head. "Listen, I'm sorry guys, but I need you to take point on the Dirk Armstrong situation. Find the proof. If we don't take him down by 8am tomorrow, Ms. Grant is going to call a press conference and step down from CatCo."

"What kind of proof?" James asked dubiously. "We don't know anything about corporate law, Kara. And we're not gonna learn in one night."

"You're right... _we_ don't know anything about the legal system," Kara agreed slowly, a delightfully sly smile spreading across her face. "But we do know someone who does...don't we, James?"

"You want me to call _Lucy?"_ the art director complained indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Kara, I moved across the country after we broke up for a reason."

"Yeah, and the reason is that you're stupid," Kara smirked, smacking him gently upside the head the same way she had done to Winn a minute ago. "I met her last week when I fought Red Tornado, you know. She's smart and hot and she smells _awesome_. And even though her dad's an ass who maybe tried to have me killed, I honestly don't think she knew anything about that. She looked genuinely shocked when everything was going down. She's one of the good guys, James."

"I _know_ she's one of the good guys! I don't need you telling me about my ex!" James huffed. Kara could see him blushing, but as much fun as it was to get a rise off her friend, she really did have to go save Maxwell freaking Lord now.

"Then call her. Let her help. I'll talk to you guys soon, okay?" And without waiting for an answer, Kara was out the window and gone, her work clothes landing in a puddle at their feet.

…...

When Kara arrived at the bedlam of chaos and violence at Lord Tech, the only person she wanted to find was her aunt. She was the general; she was the only one who could make her troops stand down, all of them. She was also, Kara knew in her heart, the only one who could be reasoned with. If she really, truly tried. She could get through to her aunt, bring her back to the light. She flew above the tall glass bridge connecting the two halves of the large research facility, searching for her aunt's familiar face; but it was Astra's husband, Non, who collided with her in midair, sending them both crashing to the ground and crushing a hundred yards of asphalt under Kara's back as they fought each other viciously.

"You know who I am, little girl?" The older man teased, a cruel smile lighting up his face. Astra may believe she was acting to save the planet, but this man had no noble goals; Kara could see it in his eyes. He was just sadistic and power-hungry.

"You're Non. Astra's husband!" Kara snarled back, flipping herself backwards into the air so she landed on top of _him_ , punching him into submission. _"YOU_ are the _REASON_ my aunt turned her back on her family and became a murderer!"

"You'd like to think that," Non chuckled, only slightly winded as he broke out of Kara's chokehold and punched her so hard, she flew through the air and crashed into one side of the top story of Lord Tech, and out the other. She landed so hard, all the breath was knocked out of her and the world became fuzzy and far away, her senses dulled momentarily by oxygen deprivation. It was mere seconds before Non landed smugly beside her, drawing the kryptonite blade from a lead-lined sheath at his belt. It was the same one both Kara and Astra had been stabbed with.

"Astra doesn't know I took this," he said conversationally as he waved the blade over her body, slamming her with nausea and dizziness just from the radiation it was giving off, which he was shielded from by his suit. She remembered the pain of having her arm sliced open with that blade, and her heart started to pound, making it even harder to get her breath back. "She gave orders for you to remain unharmed. But once you are gone, and Myriad lives, she will forgive. She will see that no _one_ life can stand in the way of this planet's future." He was still grinning sadistically, standing over Kara with the glowing green blade, trying to decide where to slit her open. But before he decided, a half-dozen tiny darts—glowing bright green—shot into the side of his neck, one of the only places where his skin wasn't shielded by his kryptonite-resistant suit. Immediately, he went rigid, the blade falling limply from his hand as he toppled over. Kara panted, limp with relief and still breathless from the fight and the closeness of the glowing green blade. She rolled over onto her stomach, pushing herself up on one elbow to see who had just saved her. Even though she already knew.

"Showoff," the blonde girl smiled, allowing Alex to help her to her feet. The dark-haired girl holstered her kryptonite gun while three other agents swarmed past them to secure Non in a set of heavy kryptonite handcuffs. "Thanks, Lexie." Kara wanted to kiss her girlfriend, her hero; but she couldn't, not dressed as Supergirl, non in public. This was the very thing they were fighting to protect, if Max Lord hadn't already posted his drone video online and blown their cover while they were saving his damn lab from alien terrorists.

"Anytime," Alex smiled back, squeezing Kara's hand. Before they'd even had a chance to regroup, a blast close by knocked them all flat on their backs, as Astra and her troops swooped in to rescue Non. A dozen of the black-clad Kryptonians took out the three DEO agents securing Non, and shot away with him. Astra and her remaining troops stayed behind to keep Kara and the DEO team occupied so they couldn't follow.

"Astra, listen to me, it's not too late to stop this," Kara begged, while Alex and the rest of alpha squad fought for their lives against the Kryptonian terrorists. "If Myriad is so terrible that you can't tell me what it is, doesn't that _mean_ something? We _can_ save this planet, we _will,_ but not like this. Our powers, Astra...they don't give us the right to be fascist dictators. Just be a _person_. Please..."

"You are as naïve as your mother was, little one," the older woman said sadly. "I told you, Myriad cannot be stopped. I told you not to confuse my mercy for weakness." She zoomed over to the kryptonite blade lying on the ground where Kara and Non had just fought, and picked it up; but before she could attack, Alex's laser sights were glowing red on her throat, her kryptonite gun aimed at the same spot where she had shot Non.

"Drop it," Alex commanded, her voice stone-cold with authority. Astra smiled a little sadly.

"Brave one," she nodded to Alex in recognition.

"My name is _Alex,_ " the young agent snarled, her gun sights still set on the older woman's throat.

"Call yourself whatever you like. You are a child with a toy dart gun," Astra laughed, sounding, Alex thought, genuinely amused. "You cannot hurt me."

"Maybe I can give it a try," Hank rumbled, surprising Astra from behind as he circled around with beta team at his back, kryptonite darts flying in all directions. With Astra's troops suddenly outnumbered, they quickly began to fall back. Kara and Alex were fighting back to back, ensuring that no one could sneak up behind them; Kara wasn't quite at a hundred percent, with the kryptonite knife still nearby, and all the tiny glowing green darts whizzing around. It wasn't enough to cause her any lasting damage; but it sapped her strength as she fought. Frightened, she extended her super-hearing in hopes of assessing everything that was going on around them, finding a way to end the stand-off.

"You don't fight like a human," she heard Astra say to Hank, fighting up against a wall about a hundred feet away from them.

"That's because I'm not," Hank replied, in a voice that was slightly deeper and more resonant than Kara had heard before. She didn't know what to make of that. But before she had a chance to even think about it, Astra had her long blade at Hank's throat, arms pinned behind his back, and blasted into the center of the fighting group of soldiers, human and alien.

"Surrender or your leader dies," she called out to the DEO team in a calm, clear voice. She was looking straight at Kara. It was _her_ surrender the general wanted, not the humans. Astra was going to greater and greater lengths to avoid killing her niece. She was so focused on Kara, she didn't notice when Alex circled behind her with the kryptonite gun, held downward to avoid showing the laser sights until the last second. "How much blood would you have on your hands, little one? When you claim to despise violence so passionately?" Then her eyes went wide in pain and shock as ten kryptonite darts sank into the back of her neck. She went rigid and toppled over like a sack of potatoes, just as Non had. With their general on the ground, being put in handcuffs, the few remaining Kryptonian troops fled, presumably on Astra's orders in the event of her own capture, to save themselves to fight another day, to keep their cause alive at all costs.

"Thanks for the assist, Grey," Hank nodded at Alex, rubbing the spot on his throat where Astra's long, jagged blade had been pressed.

"Second that," Kara sighed, straightening up a little woozily. "Can we, maybe, walk away from all these kryptonite darts?" She asked weakly, gesturing to the tiny, glowing green darts lying on the ground from the battle. When they were inside the guns, they were incased in lead, and Kara wasn't affected by them; but right now they were everywhere, and she was feeling a little green, herself. "I don't know what throwing up feels like, but there's a definite possibility it's about to happen."

"Yeah, of course, c'mon baby," Alex smiled, taking Kara by the hand and leading her away from the battlefield, back towards the DEO Humvees parked in front of Lord Tech's entrance. As the radiation from the kryptonite faded away, Kara began to feel better. Still exhausted, but not dizzy or nauseous. Holding Alex's hand helped, too, feeling her girlfriend's familiar pulse through her skin, the steady rhythm calming Kara's own heartbeat. As soon as Max Lord walked out the front door, though, they both dropped each other's hands immediately. As if he didn't already know all he needed to know.

"Oh look, it's our favorite peeping tom," Alex said sarcastically, folding her arms as she stood protectively in front of Kara. "You're welcome for saving your lab, by the way. Maybe you should think about who'll be left to save your ass if you keep sending spy drones after us."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Max Lord replied calmly, as smug and smooth as a billionaire tech mogul who _hadn't_ just had his lab half-wrecked by an alien terrorist invasion. "I'm afraid I have to ask you and your government lackeys to leave, Agent Grey. This is private property."

"Max, don't be an idiot. This is an active crime scene, we need to secure the area," Alex shook her head, unwilling to believe anyone so smart could be this dumb. "At least tell us what they were looking for, or what they took? We may not see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but I'm pretty sure we're both against _terrorism!"_

"I have my own security, thank you," Max Lord said, still smug, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you want to know what those maniacs were after, why don't you ask your pet alien? From what I've seen, she's been very...cooperative with you." He raised an eyebrow, and Alex and Kara's faces both flushed red in fury and embarrassment at his subtle jab, reminding them that he _had_ been the one to send the drone, and he _had_ watched the footage, and they had absolutely no way to prove it.

"You sick fuck..." Alex snarled, her hands balling up into fists as she took a step closer to the cocky, smug tech genius. But Kara put herself in between them, both hands pushing gently against Alex's collarbone.

"Lexie, don't. He's not worth it," Kara begged, looking beseechingly into her girlfriend's dark, furious eyes. Alex sighed unhappily, and her hands unclenched.

"Thank you, _Ms. Danvers_ ," Max Lord said quietly, looking long and hard at Kara, then Alex. He was looking at them like a gorilla on the nature channel, establishing dominance with eye contact. He was letting them know that he knew who Supergirl really was. He was letting them know who held the most power, flight and laser vision and advanced weaponry all aside. "Now get your jackboots off my property."

…...

Back at the DEO, Alex was pacing and babbling like a crazy person across the sunroom floor, while Kara laid on her back under the solar panels listening patiently. It wasn't as if she could go anywhere while the artificial sunlight rid her body of the low-level kryptonite poisoning she'd sustained during the fight. It wasn't enough to do her any real damage, and she'd recharge on her own, naturally, in a day or so; but with Astra as their prisoner, Kara was all the more worried about an attack from her aunt's troops, and she was scared to walk out of the DEO at anything less than a hundred percent.

"Egotistical asshat...doesn't even thank us for saving his sorry ass...thinks he can put a leash on us with a fucking _spy drone_..." Alex might have kept rambling a lot longer if Hank hadn't eventually walked in. "Chief! Tell me we can lock Max Lord up for _something_. The fucker as good as admitted he was the one who sent the spy drone," the young agent glowered. "What about _blackmail?_ Can we arrest him for blackmail?"

"The DEO has no protocols for detaining human prisoners, Alex. You know that. We're a secret underground facility for a reason. If we come across human criminals in the course of our work, we turf them to local law enforcement."

"But we _can't_ do that because if we do he'll just tell the whole world that Kara is Supergirl, and it won't _matter_ if he goes to jail!" Alex moaned, stomping her foot. She was pissed off and she'd had a very long day.

"Hank, do you have any snacks?" Kara asked from the sunbed, one panel open so she could look at them. "Alex needs sugar before her head explodes." The director smiled and shook his head, reassured by their banter. The fight had been intense; but they were all okay. He took a small package of chocolate chip cookies out of his large jacket pocket. Alex didn't even try to argue.

"Thanks," she mumbled, devouring the cookies.

"Danvers, how are you doing?" Hank asked.

"Totally fine. Just recharging my batteries," Kara assured him, propping herself up on one elbow so she could really look at him directly. "So, here's a question—remember back at Lord Tech when you were fighting my aunt, and she said you don't fight like a human, and you told her you're not?"

 _"What?"_ Alex croaked, nearly choking on a cookie.

"I tried to tell you like three times since we got back, but you were in the rambly zone over Max Lord having our sex tape," Kara shrugged. "I got tired."

"Dear God, can we please talk about _literally_ anything else?" Hank demanded, momentarily unable to look either one of them in the eye as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Sure," Kara said, with a calm but curious smile. "What are you?" The DEO director sighed.

"I am three hundred and seventeen years old," he said quietly, averting his eyes as Kara and Alex both gaped silently in shock. They had both had their fleeting suspicions in the past...but suddenly it was real. "I am the last of my people...I came to this planet as a refugee, living peacefully, alone, in the jungles of Peru. The real Hank Henshaw hunted me down like a criminal...he couldn't believe an extra-terrestrial could be peaceful, could be allowed to have freedom. I didn't kill him, but...he died...trying to kill me. I assumed his identity and have been living his life for the past ten years," The man who they'd thought was called Hank said to them slowly, but smoothly, as if he'd rehearsed it in his head, as if he'd imagined telling them this a hundred times.

"You...assumed his identity?" Kara asked blankly.

"He's a shapeshifter," Alex said with dawning comprehension, as she gazed at the man she'd worked under for the last two years. She may not know his true name, or his true origins...but she did know his heart. She knew he was a good man, alien or not.

"Yes," he nodded.

"So if you're not Hank Henshaw...who are you?" Alex asked gently, putting her hand reassuringly over his. He smiled a little, warmed by Alex's display of loyalty.

"I am the last son of Mars," he said quietly, removing his hand from Alex's as he began to transform into his true shape, his body growing larger, taller, his dark skin going green. "My name is J'onn J'onzz."

…...

The shock of finding out their DEO chief was a Martian was countered by the exhaustion of the stand-off with Astra's army, and Kara and Alex both slept deeply and dreamlessly that night, too tired for an existential crisis. Their boss was an alien; Astra needed to be questioned; General Lane might find out they had her in custody; Max Lord might release Supergirl's true identity as Kara Danvers at any moment. That last one, at least, they knew they had some time to figure out; Max would want to hold onto his leverage for as long as possible. As long as he held their secrets over their heads, he had power over them. For better or worse.

After a good night's sleep plus the time she'd put in under the solar panels, Kara woke up bright and early the next morning, thrilled when she checked in with Winn and James and found that they'd managed to obtain proof in print of Dirk Armstrong's conspiracy to oust his CEO from her office. The four of them—Kara, Winn, James, and Lucy (who Kara was very happy to see that James had actually called)—just barely managed to rush into Ms. Grant's office with the documents and stop her from making her public resignation statement on camera. Ms. Grant was so stunned with relief that she hired Lucy to join her legal council on the spot, which was perfect, since the younger Lane sister had just quit her military council position under her father. She'd seen the bigotry he'd shown Supergirl, even while the alien girl was saving their lives; and she didn't want her work going toward his divisive goals anymore.

"But the person you should really be thanking is Kara, you know," James added, wanting to give credit where it was due. "She's the one who had us investigate Dirk in the first place."

"She did, did she?" Ms. Grant turned to Kara, her eyebrow going up in the approving way Kara had been seeing more and more often lately. "What made you think to do that, Kira?"

"Well it was something I overheard him say after the board meeting..." Winn gave a loud, fake cough, glaring at Kara to stop talking. Because she hadn't just _overheard_ the chairman of the board; she had _super-heard_ him with her alien ears, through two panes of glass at opposite ends of the executive floor. Kara quickly shifted gears. "I meant, it was something _you_ said, Ms. Grant. About him being two-faced."

"I see," Ms. Grant nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'm forever in your debts, all four of you. Now, Kira, go set a meeting with that walking personification of white male privilege, right now. Goodness gracious, I am going to _enjoy_ this."

After the spectacle of seeing the pompous board chairman lead from the CatCo office in handcuffs, Ms. Grant's mood was the closest Kara had ever seen to jubilant. The blonde girl walked out onto her boss's balcony with a stack of paperwork for her to sign, and Ms. Grant actually smiled at her, a wide, unguarded smile.

"Ahh, Kira. Another week, another crisis averted...thanks to you." The older woman took the papers, glancing them over quickly before signing. "My secret weapon. My guardian angel."

"Oh, it was nothing," Kara smiled shyly with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"No, no...it was something. It was something extraordinary," Ms. Grant persisted, still smiling at her assistant inscrutably. Then she turned away and started to slowly pace the balcony. "You know I was thinking...about how you overheard Dirk after the board meeting," the older woman remarked, almost musingly. "I was standing right next to you, and there was no _way_ that he was within earshot."

"I didn't mean him, I meant you," Kara protested, shaking her head. "I overheard _you_ say something _about_ him. Obviously, I couldn't have overheard _him._ " She gave a very awkward, fake laugh. She had a terrible fake laugh. Alex had told her so a hundred times. Ms. Grant stopped pacing and just looked at her, silent and sharp-eyed. Kara gulped uncomfortably.

"And then I was thinking about the day of the earthquake, and how you got sick for the first time since I've known you," the older woman continued as if Kara hadn't just spoken, resuming her pacing. "And then the quake hit, and Supergirl went mysteriously M...I...A. Then she showed up again, and the next day you were back at work like nothing ever happened, not a single sniffle. I _heard_ your voice that morning, Kira, I heard your cough. I _am_ a mother, for God's sake, I know what sick sounds like. _No one_ bounces back from that in one day." She stopped pacing again and stared at Kara, hands on her hips. Kara just shrugged awkwardly, hoping her rising panic didn't show in her eyes.

"That's...just a coincidence," she said lamely, shaking her head.

"And then I was thinking about something Carter said after the attack on the Supertrain," Ms. Grant continued, talking and pacing in tandem. "He said he felt bad that he got to meet Supergirl and you didn't...because you were conveniently separated from him and Alex just before Supergirl arrived to save the train, and they couldn't find you again until after she'd gone. Another coincidence?"

"Ms. Grant...I don't know what to tell you..." Kara laughed nervously, her feet rooted to the spot in panic.

"And let's not forget how incensed you were when I named her Supergirl. You took it personally." Ms. Grant stopped right in front of Kara, one eyebrow raised expectantly. Kara could barely make her mouth form words.

"Well...sure...for... for political reasons..."

"Do me a favor and take off your glasses," Ms. Grant said calmly, and Kara stuttered wordlessly again for a moment.

"My...my glasses?" she gave another pathetically nervous laugh. "I, I can't! I'd be blind without them!"

"I doubt that," Ms. Grant said quietly, her gaze as calm and steady as her voice. Kara was unravelling. "If you're not who I think you are, what does it matter?" the older woman sighed impatiently. Kara still eyed her with the same nervous expression.

"I...I..."

"Glasses or I take it as a confirmation," Ms. Grant said flatly. Kara sighed, looking down at the ground for a moment, as if she were summoning all her courage. Then she took her glasses off, and looked back up at Ms. Grant, who was smiling at her in a way she never had before. "Well...let me begin by saying thank you, for all the help you've given me. _Supergirl._ " Ms. Grant waltzed past Kara back inside the office, leaving her assistant on the verge of a heart attack on the balcony.

"Okay, well, that was a funny joke, huh?" Kara asked shrilly when she came back inside a moment later, still trying desperately to deny the truth to her sharp-witted boss. "So...so should we get back to reporting the _real_ news now?"

"Oh, Kira. Don't misunderstand my meaning here. I have no intention of revealing your secret identity to anyone, you can rest assured of that. Why would I voluntarily give up media control over my very own superhero? No, this is perfect for _both_ of us. You can keep dashing off to save the world as needed...don't think I haven't watched those two stooges falling all over themselves to cover for you every other day," she added, rolling her eyes. "In exchange, we will have an understanding that you will talk to _no other press_ but me. If there's a story about Supergirl in the public eye, it will be told by CatCo alone. By me. _And_ you. I'm giving you a chance to tell your _own_ story here, Kira. Don't be defined by the speculation of others. Isn't that something you've wanted from the beginning?" They stared at each other in charged silence for a long moment.

"You forgot to put your glasses back on," Ms. Grant nodded to the glasses still in Kara's hand, which she had taken off outside on the balcony, and which she was supposed to be practically blind without.

"Are you...are you saying I can be a reporter?" Kara asked tentatively, laying her glasses down on the coffee table. Ms. Grant smiled approvingly.

"That's an ambitious request. Let's take it one step at a time."

"What does that mean?" Kara asked, still hesitant to say it, to say the truth, even though her gut told her she could trust her boss with her life.

"It means...stop pretending you're not Supergirl, and we can talk through all your media coverage together. You can start by giving me notes, and helping me frame and structure the stories we want to tell...and then, yes, if all goes well you could begin drafting your own bylines in a few months." Ms. Grant sat down on her immaculate white couch and crossed her legs, looking up at Kara expectantly.

"Okay," Kara said simply. Ms. Grant was so surprised, she stood up again.

"Really?"

"Really," Kara nodded.

"Well then...Supergirl...what story do _you_ want to tell?" Ms. Grant beamed. Kara smiled back at her in nervous excitement. She hoped Alex wasn't going to be _too_ mad at her...because she had a really good idea. It was time to elevate the public conversation about anti-alien bigotry in National City.


	12. Land of the Free

Hey guys!

I am so unbelievably sorry it's been a month since my last post. A _month!_ All I can say is that real life got realer for a while there, it took everything I had out of me. I knew what was going to happen next (in the story), but my brain was too tired to bring it into focus. The kind of tired that doesn't go away when you sleep. Major life stress tends to sap the creative juices. Anyway, I'm back now and hopefully we will have no more major breaks between updates. Life is getting good again, so I have the time and the mental energy that I didn't before. Hope it was worth the wait!

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane For You**

 **Chapter 12: Land of the Free**

…...

"It's up. It's up! Alex, my article's up!" Kara squealed, shaking her girlfriend's shoulder a little harder than necessary and jolting her awake rather abruptly.

 _"Heyyy,"_ the dark-haired girl whined groggily, curling up in a ball under the blankets and rubbing her eyes. "Don't break the girlfriend."

"Shit, was that too hard. Sorry. I'm sorry," Kara sighed guiltily, immediately shoving her tablet aside and rolling towards Alex, her hand resting gently on the sleepy girl's shoulder. "Did I hurt you, Lexie?"

"Uh-uh," the dark-haired girl yawned and shook her head, snuggling up a little closer to Kara's warm body under the blankets and pressing her face against the blonde girl's throat. "M'okay. Just...don't wake me up like that."

"Okay. Sorry," Kara said again a little sheepishly, knowing that Alex didn't respond well to being woken up so abruptly (because it was usually associated with some kind of DEO disaster); but also a little disappointed that her girlfriend wanted sleep more than she wanted to hear the interview that was all Kara and Ms. Grant had been working on for the last 48 hours, the first step towards Kara fighting for truth and justice with something _other_ than her fists.

But Kara barely had time to feel disappointed before Alex's eyes snapped open and she sat straight up in bed, bleary but very much awake. "Wait...your article's up?" Kara beamed. Alex laid back down and nuzzled up to her shoulder, one hand slipping up the blonde girl's pajama top and resting on her stomach. "Will you read it to me?"

"Okay," Kara smiled shyly, picking up her tablet from the bedside table and tapping on the headline article on the CatCo homepage. There were two photos. One action shot, the kind of picture that everyone expected to see of Supergirl in the media; and another of her in a plain white t-shirt and jeans in Ms. Grant's living room, lying on her stomach in front of the TV with Carter, playing video games and laughing. She was still Supergirl—she wasn't wearing her glasses—but it was a picture of Supergirl unlike any other the public had seen. Supergirl as a person.

"Aliens Are People Too: An Exclusive Interview with Supergirl by Cat Grant," Kara read slowly, her voice full of nervous excitement.

 _It will come as no surprise to the people of National City that I have cultivated something of a personal relationship with Supergirl,_ the article began. _I published the first photo of Supergirl along with giving her the name that the entire country has come to know her by. I wrote the headlines; I chose the questions. The conversation about her in the news media has focused almost exclusively on national safety and sensationalistic action coverage. But now, dear readers, I endeavor to bring a new conversation to the media's view of the young woman we call Supergirl. This interview was conducted in my own home, with the understanding that it would be printed in pure transcript format. There will be no commentary. There will be no wild speculation. There will only be questions and answers. It's time we let Supergirl speak for herself—National City owes her at least that, and so much more._

 _Cat Grant: Supergirl, what question do_ _ **you**_ _wish the media would ask you?_

 _Supergirl: I wish they would ask...why I keep my true identity secret. I know it's something the news pundits seem to ask each other all the time, so they can have an hour-long debate about what I might be keeping hidden from the public and why I shouldn't be trusted...but nobody has ever asked_ _ **me**_ _._

 _Cat Grant: All right then. Supergirl, why do you feel the need to keep your true identity hidden from the public?_

 _Supergirl: Well...I was only thirteen years old when I arrived on this planet. A child. It was never my intention to keep anything secret from anyone...where I come from, people of different worlds crossed paths all the time. I visited nine different planets with my parents when I was young. So it never occurred to me that when I came to Earth, things would be any different._

 _But, my foster parents and my cousin—the man of steel, as you know him—all told me I had to keep who I really was hidden. They said I'd be in danger, the government would lock me up and do tests on me, I'd never be allowed to live a normal life as a normal kid. Respecting one's elders is hugely important on Krypton, so I did as I was told. At least, I tried to. Keeping your life secret like that...it hurts. No one wants to do that. But as I got older, I realized they were right...their fears were real._

 _There were a couple of times back then when I got clumsy and used my powers in public to save someone, and...it seemed like most people didn't see the good deeds, they just saw something different, something they didn't understand. It scared me. At the same time, at school, I was learning about the history of this planet; about slavery and genocide and war. You have to understand, there was no racism on Krypton—separating people by skin color was as bizarre to me as if you woke up tomorrow and found the world had been divided into groups according to eye color. I realized that people on this planet were suspicious of anything different from themselves. And I wasn't just a little bit different; I was a_ _ **lot**_ _different. So I hid. I hid until I couldn't stand it anymore. I'm not hiding now, at least not completely. But I am living two very separate lives. I wish I didn't have to._

 _Cat Grant: And what would you say to those who express the view that the only reason to keep a secret identity is that you have something to hide? That the vast majority of alien lifeforms that have landed on this planet have been violent and hostile, and cannot be trusted?_

 _Supergirl: I'd say...those are the kind of people who see what they want to see. And I'd point out that the "vast majority" of any group can't be determined if we're not being counted. We're not in the census. There's no "extraterrestrial" box on any of those forms. The truth is, there are more aliens on this planet than you know. Refugees, like me. They live peacefully, but in hiding, because they're afraid. Afraid of being treated like criminals or science experiments, taken away in the middle of the night without a warrant, without cause, without due process. Without basic human rights. Because we're not human. But that doesn't mean we're not people._

"...Kara, this is amazing," Alex beamed, fully awake now as she sat up in bed beside her girlfriend and began to read over her shoulder.

"You really think so?" Kara asked, biting her lip nervously. "You haven't even gotten to the good part yet. The part where I say I _do_ trust the people of National City, and invite them to ask me their questions with the #AliensArePeople hashtag."

"I can't believe you have a Supergirl Twitter account. I can't believe Ms. Grant _let_ you have a Supergirl Twitter account."

"Oh, I still have to send her everything I write so she can approve it, and she's the one who posts it. I don't even get to have the login. It's like I'm thirteen again, with Eliza standing over my shoulder trying to explain social media to me and keeping me from saying anything stupid," Kara rolled her eyes a little. Alex laughed.

"I am so, so proud of you, bluebird," the dark-haired girl murmured, holding Kara's face in both hands and kissing her lightly. "You're a whole new kind of hero now. Bulletproof, laser vision, and civil rights activist."

"Thanks," Kara smiled shyly. "I didn't do it all by myself or anything. Ms. Grant has been incredible, it's like I just won a level and got moved up. She was already kind of mentoring both of me when there were two me's, and now that she _knows_ they're bothme, it's this huge weight off my shoulders," she sighed, smiling. Alex smiled back.

"All she did was give you a platform," the dark-haired girl said, gently but firmly. _"You_ stood up and spoke for yourself. You were brave, you were honest. And very articulate. That was all you, Kar." Alex's dark eyes were shining with fierce pride, and Kara leaned in and kissed her. The tablet slid off the bed and hit the carpet as they sank into each other, one kiss deepening into another. It was a good day to be Supergirl.

When they were too hungry to stay in bed ravaging each other any longer, they got up and made breakfast, a celebratory affair with a huge stack of chocolate chip pancakes, along with bacon and eggs and two boxes of Pop Tarts as an appetizer while Kara waited impatiently for Alex to finish cooking.

"Any action yet on that hashtag?" Alex asked as she flipped a pancake off the griddle and onto a plate.

"Tons," Kara smiled, one hand racing over the keyboard on her tablet while the other was shoving a sugary Pop Tart in her mouth. "Some are pretty scathing, but Ms. Grant warned me that would happen...but most are good. Supportive. There are even some from kids, asking what video games I like to play and what my favorite kind of ice cream is. Those are the best ones, Alex."

"Yeah?" Alex smiled, charmed by her girlfriend's innocent enthusiasm.

"Yeah," Kara nodded, unwrapping another package of Pop Tarts. "Because it shows the whole world that I'm a person, not just a flying freak from outer space. That's the point. Now maybe if we can get some basic civil rights, people like Hank—I mean, J'onn—can come out of hiding...and maybe one day I won't even have to keep my identity secret anymore."

"One thing at a time, babe," Alex grinned proudly, turning off the stovetop and setting the huge plate of pancakes in the middle of the kitchen table.

"Thanks for making me breakfast," Kara grinned back, pulling Alex into her lap and rubbing a smudge of flour off her girlfriend's cheek. "This will be the second-best thing I've eaten today...and it's not even 9am." Alex giggled, and Kara kissed her thoroughly. They might've forgotten their food entirely and started peeling each other's clothes off again, but they both heard Kara's stomach give a loud rumble of protest. Alex laughed against Kara's lips.

"Eat your breakfast, horndog." the young DEO agent sighed with a smile, returning to her own chair and pushing the pancakes toward the flush-faced blonde alien, who was still looking at her like _she_ was breakfast. "I know I'm yummy, but I won't keep your tummy from growling."

"Yes dear," Kara said sarcastically, but she was smiling too. For a few minutes they ate their breakfast in relative quiet, both of them following the long line of questions and comments directed at Kara's new hashtag on her tablet, and watching the answers pop up as Ms. Grant approved and posted them from "Supergirl's" Twitter feed, some with small changes to vague up anything that might be too revealing or compromise Kara's secret identity. It really _was_ good that Ms. Grant was helping her with this.

"So, miss alien rights activist...it's Saturday. No more excuses," Alex said gently as the last pancake disappeared. "Are you coming into the DEO today? We need to find out what Astra knows. We need to find out about Myriad." Kara pouted and sat back in her chair dejectedly.

"Why does it have to be me, Lexie? Why does it _always_ have to be me? Don't we have a whole team of DEO agents who are specially trained to interrogate terrorists?"

"We do," Alex nodded gently, squeezing Kara's knee under the table in silent support. "They've been trying, baby. You know they have. But Astra says she won't talk to anyone but you. It's been two days, Kar. We can't wait any longer. I know you don't want to talk to her...but I also know you won't stand by while people get hurt. Myriad could launch tomorrow. Or Non and his troops could attack the DEO and break her out before we get any information out of her. And how would you feel then?"

"Okay, okay, I know," Kara sighed, leaning forward and putting her head in her hands. Alex scooted her chair a little closer and rubbed her girlfriend's back.

"I'm sorry this is hurting you so much," the dark-haired girl murmured regretfully. "Astra is your only living link to your family, to home...Clark may be your blood relative, but he doesn't remember Krypton. Astra is the only person left alive who's known you your whole life. Someone you trusted, someone who loved you. I can't imagine how conflicted you must feel right now."

"Astra is _not_ my family," Kara snarled, her eyes flashing dangerously. It might have intimidated anyone else, but not Alex.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love her." They stared at each other until Kara's eyes filled with tears.

"If I do go talk to her...will you come with me?" the blonde girl asked in a small voice.

"Try and get rid of me," Alex teased gently. Kara left her seat and crawled into Alex's lap, pressing her face silently into her girlfriend's neck. Alex held her tight, rubbing her fingers through long blonde hair.

"Okay," Kara sighed, breaking the silence as she sat up, rubbing a few tears away. "Let's go do this before I change my mind."

…...

They stood in front of the guarded door to Astra's holding cell for almost a full minute in silence before going in. Alex didn't badger Kara to hurry up, and Kara appreciated that. A lot. Finally, the blonde superhero slipped her hand into her girlfriend's and held on tight (not _too_ tight, of course), and nodded to the guard to open the heavy lead door.

There was Astra, looking completely at ease as she sat silently in her green-glowing cell. The Kryptonite levels inside were calculated to be high enough to suppress her superhuman powers, but not high enough to cause her pain or cellular damage. Kara made a mental note to thank J'onn later for not subjecting her aunt to any cruel or unusual punishment. He knew better than anyone how slippery that slope was. The glass cell was radiation-proof, so Kara couldn't feel the effects of the Kryptonite from the outside as long as she didn't touch it.

"Little One...I knew you would come," the older woman beamed, standing up and pressing her hand against the glass wall of her cell. In the palm of her hand was one half of a toy spy beacon; the other half had been a gift to Kara on her seventh birthday, so they could send each other messages when Astra was off-world on business trips. A reminder of how close they had once been. Suddenly Kara had a stomachache. "Brave One," Astra nodded to the girl gripping her niece's hand protectively. "I am pleased to see you are well."

 _"Alex,"_ Kara corrected her aunt with a snarl, a shot of adrenalin-fueled anger rushing through her body in a wave. She didn't like hearing her once-beloved aunt call her _Little One_ anymore, and she sure as hell didn't like hearing the endearing nickname the older woman had chosen for her girlfriend. _After_ trying to have her killed by a human-sized insect.

"Forgive me, niece, for taking any undue liberties. I meant no disrespect," Astra said calmly, taking her seat again.

"You know what's a good way not to disrespect someone? Don't try to kill them," Kara spat back at her. Alex could feel her trembling, and gave her hand a little squeeze. Kara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Astra just stared at her silently, waiting. "Well, you wanted me here, I'm here. Now talk. What is Myriad? Help us stop it, and I'll do everything I can to help you."

Astra smiled sadly. "I have already told you, sweet Kara. Myriad cannot be stopped. I may be trapped here, but Non is not. He and my soldiers have their orders. Soon the humans will be nothing but slaves to the greater good. Including yours." She nodded her head towards Alex, who stayed silent and glowering; but Kara could feel the nervous shiver of foreboding sweeping briefly through her girlfriend's body.

"She isn't property!" Kara yelled, letting go of Alex's hand and running up to the edge of her aunt's cage, slamming her fist angrily against the glass. The Kryptonite radiating through the glass kept her from doing any damage to the cell wall, and a brief wave of nausea traveled through Kara's body at the brief contact with the low-level Kryptonite radiation; but she didn't care. "You don't have the right to do this! You say humans are so backwards and primitive, but they eradicated slavery on this planet centuries ago. And now you want to enslave the entire human race? And you _still_ don't see what a hypocrite you are?! Can't we all just be _people?_ Why is that so hard?!"

"Kara, calm down," Alex murmured, putting a hand on the shaking blonde girl's back. When Kara turned to face her, there were tears streaming from her blue eyes.

"I don't know why I bothered coming down here," The blonde girl shook her head, wiping away her tears angrily. "Let her rot for all I care." With that, Kara turned on her heels and began to walk away towards the door, even as she heard her aunt begging for her to stay, to listen. But before she'd gotten three steps, the green glow of Kryptonite radiation suddenly filled the entire room, not just Astra's cell. Kara gasped in pain and stumbled to the floor, as the room began to pulse around her in waves of nausea and dizziness.

"Kara!" Alex cried, kneeling at her girlfriend's side in an instant. Why would Hank order the Kryptonite levels raised in this room when he knew Kara was in here questioning her aunt?

But Alex's question was answered before she could even voice it, as General Lane and his military entourage marched in, going straight to Astra's cell and unlocking the door. "What are you doing?" Alex demanded, one hand still resting protectively on Kara's back. "You don't have clearance to be down here. And you sure as _hell_ don't have the authority to alter containment field levels in a DEO detention cell!"

General Lane gave a cruel, dismissive snort of laughter. "I think you'll find I have all the authority I need, little girl. I have an executive order signed by the president to take interim command of this facility until such time as the Kryptonian terrorist threat is neutralized. I'll be taking over this interrogation." He nodded to his men, and two of them entered Astra's cell and pushed her down onto her knees, holding her firmly as she was powerless to fight them. She looked, suddenly, as sick and weak as Kara did, under the green glow of the heightened Kryptonite levels.

"My name is _Agent_ Alex Grey," Alex said coolly the pompous general, squaring her shoulders. "And I'm the Assistant Director of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations. Call me _little girl_ again and I'll have you prosecuted for sexual harassment." The general completely ignored her, walking into Astra's cell now that she was subdued, along with another soldier who carried an ominous-looking black briefcase. When he opened it, Alex saw that it was full of vials of glowing green liquid, and a large, thick needle. Her eyes widened in horrified disbelief.

"Alex, I think I'm gonna throw up," Kara whispered, pale and sweaty under the green glow of the room. Then she slowly raised her head, and realized what the general intended to do to her aunt. "What are you _doing?_ Stop it!" the blonde girl yelled, struggling to her feet even though the Kryptonite seemed like it was pushing her back down again, like she was trying to move through hurricane-force winds. Alex tried to hold her steady, but at the same time, keep her out of the general's way. If he really did have another damn executive order, there was nothing they could do about it, and Alex wasn't about to let Kara get hurt again, or get herself in trouble with the government.

"These are the people you would side with against your own blood?" Astra cried out, unable to look at her niece from her trapped position in her cell, on her knees with her head pushed down. The soldier who'd carried the briefcase took out the needle and filled it with liquid Kryptonite from one of the vials.

 _"No!_ Stop, please! _Please!"_ Kara screamed, and Alex had to drag her backwards out of the room as the weakened blonde girl struggled against her, trying to return to her aunt's cell. "General Lane, we're better than this! We don't torture people!"

"You're right, Supergirl. We don't torture _people_ ," the general sneered; and with a nod to his officer, the syringe of glowing poison was injected into Astra's neck. Her blood-curdling howl of pain was accompanied by ripples of glowing green light running through her face, like the stuff was replacing her blood. Kara began to cry, screaming and begging for them to stop while Alex dragged her out of the room.

The moment the lead doors closed behind them, and the worst of the Kryptonite exposure was cut off from Kara's struggling body, Alex gently released her hold on her sobbing girlfriend; but instead of turning around and yelling at her to do something, as Alex was expecting, Kara bolted to the nearest trashcan and threw up. This had never happened before. Alex ran to her side and held her hair back, all other concerns momentarily forgotten.

"It's okay bluebird, it's okay...it's just the Kryptonite exposure that's making you feel sick. It's going to pass," Alex murmured, rubbing the blonde girl's trembling back in light, soothing circles. Kara just gave a pitiful whimper, leaning her forehead down against her hands on the rim of the tall trashcan.

"It hurts," she whispered, still leaning heavily on the trashcan as Alex soothed her and stroked her hair. "Alex, how could they do that to her...? Did the president really give General Lane permission to torture alien prisoners?" Kara leaned over and coughed hard, like her body was trying to force her to throw up again; but there was nothing left in her stomach to come up.

"Shh, I know baby...we're gonna figure this out," Alex promised, smiling gratefully at one of the agents guarding the door to Astra's cell as he silently approached them with a bottle of water in his outstretched hand. "Thanks, Williams." The tall man with the assault rifle slung across his chest gave a respectful nod, and returned to his post without speaking. Alex took the cap off the water bottle and gently put it in Kara's hand. "Here, can you take a little sip of this? You'll feel better. Not too much," Alex warned; and Kara took a very small sip, rinsing her mouth out and then spitting it into the trashcan. When she tried to stand up straight, she wobbled dizzily and grabbed onto the trashcan again for support.

"Lexie," Kara whimpered, her voice rough with pain and desperation. She couldn't even open her eyes without making the world tilt and spin around her.

"It's okay. I got you," Alex hummed softly, wrapping one arm firmly around her girlfriend's waist and gently pulling her upright. "You don't have to open your eyes. Just let me lead you, okay?"

"'Kay," Kara sniffled, fresh tears running down her cheeks. Alex knew she must be feeling really terrible if she was crying at the DEO. She didn't even seem embarrassed about it. They slowly made their way to the sunroom, and when Kara realized where she was, she tried to resist; but Alex wasn't having it.

"You are not getting past me right now, so don't waste your breath," the dark-haired girl said in a firm but gentle voice, pushing Kara down onto the flat surface of the solar panel and powering it on with one hand still pressed to Kara's shoulder, like the blonde girl might make a break for it. As if. Alex doubted she could fly right now even if she wanted to.

"I'm so stupid," Kara whispered, tears streaking down her face as she gave in and laid back flat on the glowing yellow sunbed. "Stupid fucking _hashtag_...like that's going to stop General Lane..."

"Hush, don't say that Kara. Just close your eyes and get your solar charge on...don't worry about anything right now but feeling better, okay my sweet girl?" Alex climbed onto the sunbed beside her crying girlfriend, who immediately cuddled up to her tightly, pressing her tear-streaked face into Alex's neck.

Later, when Kara was passed out asleep on top of Alex, her skin soaking up the healing rays of the bioengineered, concentrated sunlight, J'onn came into the sunroom and pulled up a chair beside the bed to talk to Alex in quiet, soothing voices, neither of them wanting to wake poor Kara from her much needed sun-nap.

"Alex, I swear, if I'd had any idea General Lane was coming, I would have warned you," J'onn said earnestly. Alex silently reached out one hand—the one that wasn't tangled in Kara's hair—and he took it, comforting her like a daughter, not like a subordinate agent.

"I know that," the dark-haired agent said quietly. "This isn't on you, Hank." With General Lane and his lackeys running around the DEO, she knew it wasn't safe to call J'onn by his real name. "Did those neanderthals actually get any information out of Astra?"

"Just more of the same vaguely ominous and self-aggrandizing threats," J'onn sighed with a shake of his head. _"Myriad cannot be stopped. Killing me will only bring the wrath of my soldiers upon your loved ones faster._ The usual."

"Gee, you mean torturing enemy prisoners isn't an effective interrogation tool? I guess General Lane hasn't read the Geneva Conventions lately," Alex said in a quiet but heated voice. Kara whimpered and stirred slightly on top of her girlfriend's warm body; but she didn't wake up. Alex lightly stroked her hair again to settle her back down. That was when Kara's personal cell phone began to ring inside her boot, and Hank quickly pulled it out and handed it to Alex before the sound could wake Kara up.

"Hello Ms. Grant, it's Alex," the dark-haired agent said quietly. "...Yes, Kara's okay. I mean, sort of. I know she stopped sending in her tweets. We've had a bit of a difficult morning here...I wish I could tell you more, but it's classified. All I can say is that we've just witnessed some civil rights abuses and Kara took it pretty hard. She was also exposed to some harmful radiation, she's sleeping now. ...No, no, she'll be fine...yes, I'm sure..." Hank listened to Alex's end of the conversation with a small smile. He was glad that Kara had a boss who cared for her and doted over her like a parent...the same way he did for Alex.

…...

It was late afternoon by the time Kara woke up, instantly asking for food which was a huge relief to Alex. Once she'd eaten, the blonde girl impatiently submitted to a short round of tests to confirm that her powers were fully intact, and then they finally let her go. She flew straight to Ms. Grant's house, desperate to talk to her mentor about everything that had just happened even if she couldn't share all the details of the classified information. Though the solar bed had restored her powers, she still felt a little shaky, and she flew a bit slower than she normally would, arriving at Ms. Grant's house about five minutes after she left the DEO. Normally, she would have crossed state lines in less time than that. When she landed on the second floor balcony and walked inside, Ms. Grant was seated calmly on the sofa with two cups of hot tea in front of her, apparently expecting Kara's arrival.

"Alex called you, didn't she?" Kara said with a wry smile as she sat down beside her boss on the comfortable couch and took a sip of the sweet tea. It was warm and steadying.

"Actually, I called her," Cat Grant admitted, raising one eyebrow as she looked her assistant up and down, assessing her for any signs of physical distress in a rather motherly way. "Actually, I called _you,_ but she picked up your phone. I was concerned when you stopped sending me your Supergirl tweets so abruptly. Alex told me what happened, in the vaguest black-ops way possible. Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Kara sighed dejectedly, pushing the tea away. Ms. Grant just continued to stare at her with one eyebrow raised. "I mean...physically," Kara admitted after a moment of awkward silence. "I'm just...sad. And angry. And confused. How do you know who to fight for when both sides are so awful to each other, so brutal? I saw at least four international peace accords being broken today by the US military. And my...the Kryptonian prisoner..." Kara caught herself, knowing she couldn't give Ms. Grant too much classified information about the identity of a DEO prisoner; she was still a civilian after all. "Well, let's just say she's no better at respecting human rights than anyone else in this mess. She told me to my face that she's planning to enslave the entire human race to do her bidding...I just don't know who the good guys are anymore." Kara rubbed her temples, trying to clear her confusing thoughts.

"You, Kara. You're the good guys," Ms. Grant smiled encouragingly, squeezing her arm. Kara smiled weakly. Of all the things to be happy about with Ms. Grant knowing she was Supergirl...it was nice to hear her boss finally say her name right. "And me. And Alex," the older woman continued gently. "We're going to show the world what it looks like to fight for change from a place of hope, not fear. Starting right now, if you feel up to it."

"Right now?" Kara asked blankly.

"Well, our article combined with your new hashtag has had quite an impact," the older woman explained with a small, triumphant smile, sitting back and crossing her arms smugly over her chest. "In the last six hours, there have been over a hundred thousand tweets. Not all directed at you, even. It's happening, Kara. We started a national conversation on alien civil rights."

"We...we did?" Kara asked, wide-eyed with wary disbelief.

"We certainly did," Ms. Grant nodded. "And now, as is wont to happen, an ultra-conservative senator has taken it upon herself to call an anti-alien rally in McCarren Park to condemn us. Well, mostly you. I'm just a lowly collaborator." The older woman smirked, and Kara couldn't help smiling back at her.

"You're a lot more than that, Ms. Grant. Carrying planes and blasting bad guys out of the sky, that's the easy part for me. But this media stuff...I could never have done any of it without you," Kara said earnestly. She must have been getting a little too heartfelt for her acerbic boss's taste, because Cat Grant just rolled her eyes.

"Of course you couldn't," the older woman smirked. "But the fact remains that Senator Miranda Crane is on a podium in McCarren Park right now, stirring up a mob mentality and calling for a giant dome to be built over the United States to keep extraterrestrials out of our borders."

"A...a _dome?"_ Kara asked in bewilderment, wondering if anyone could seriously think building a United-States-sized dome was a viable option.

"Yes, I know, I usually prefer to let her kind talk themselves into a hole and let the news write itself...but we're not just _reporting_ the news now, are we Kara? We're _making_ it." Kara smiled weakly, heartened by her boss's unrelenting faith in her. "So, in that capacity, I think it would be highly advisable for you to put in an appearance at this little rally. Ask her _your_ questions, get her on the ropes."

"But...but I wouldn't know what to say," the blonde girl shook her head shyly, suddenly more Kara Danvers than Supergirl, even though she was still in her blue and red uniform and cape.

"Yes you do," Ms. Grant said calmly without missing a beat. Kara chewed her lip, considering. That was when her DEO earring-phone went off.

"Shit. Sorry," she sighed to her boss, tapping her earring once to answer. "Alex? Is everything okay?"

"Not even a little bit," the young agent sighed regretfully at the other end of the call. "I know you just got done rebooting from Kryptonite poisoning and everything, but...our scanners picked up the biochemical signature of those Kryptonite-proof suits Astra's soldiers always wear. They're moving toward McCarren Park. _Fast."_

"Great, that's fantastic," Kara sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "They're after Senator Crane. So once again I'm off to save the life of someone who wants me dead or in alien jail or shot back into outer space."

"I know babe, I'm so fucking sorry..." Alex sounded stressed, the way she did when she was worried and overprotective of her favorite blonde alien.

"No. It's okay, Alex," Kara shook her head, and Ms. Grant saw her demeanor visibly shift as the young superhero sat up straight, squaring her shoulders determinedly. "Now I don't have to make a speech or anything to prove her wrong. I can just show up and save her ass while she's on half a dozen live newsfeeds condemning me. Let the public decide for themselves who's less than human."

"That's my girl," Alex grinned proudly. "Listen, General Lane and his team of man-beef are already en route, so you better get yourself in the air pronto. If they get there before you...they could literally start a war."

"I'm gone," Kara nodded, tapping off the call. She looked back up at her with a sigh. "Looks like I _am_ going to Senator Crane's rally. You might want to sit this one out, Ms. Grant."

"I'll take your word on that," Ms. Grant smiled humorlessly. "Go. Save some lives. Prove that xenophobic fool wrong on her own turf. I'll call James, make sure he gets some good pictures. He's already there." Kara nodded, and without any formal goodbyes she shot out the window, ten times faster than she'd flown on her way in.

…...

General Lane and his team were nowhere to be seen as Kara zipped through the sky, closing in on the public park; but Astra's army was closing in fast, there was already screaming and trampling rippling through the crowd, as frightened people dropped their _Take Back America_ signs and ran for their lives.

"You're all insects!" Non roared, laughing cruelly as he flew above the crowd, and shot his laser vision straight at the terrified senator.

But...Kara got there first. She shot straight down out of the sky and blocked the senator's body with her own, holding her cape around them both to shield the older woman from what would have been a deadly blast. James, who had _not_ run for cover when the screaming started, snapped another perfect picture: Supergirl saving the life of a powerful US Congresswoman who had moments before been condemning her very existence.

 _"Run!_ I'll hold him off!" Kara screamed at the senator, pushing her towards her bodyguards, who were picking themselves up from the ground after the force of Non's laser blast had knocked them all down. The older woman hesitated for a split second, looking back and forth between her shaken bodyguards, and the blazing blue eyes of the young alien who had just saved her life.

"I'm sorry," Senator Crane said earnestly.

 _"Go!"_ Kara screamed, unable to form any more words as she spun up into the air to face Non. The crowd continued to scatter as the Kryptonians fought across the sky; General Lane's team showed up just a few minutes later, but they were hopelessly outmatched and unprepared, which was something the cocky, pompous general had obviously never experienced before. But a few minutes after _that,_ Hank and Alex showed up with a DEO field team in two unmarked black humvees, one with a bazooka mounted on top.

The fight was fierce and bloody, but thanks to Kara there were no civilian casualties. Alex took a pretty hard knock on the head, but she sprang back up again so fast, Kara figured it must not be as bad as it had looked. Outnumbered by the combined force of the military, the DEO, and Supergirl, Non finally gave the command for his soldiers to retreat; and they were gone almost before anyone realized the battle was over.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kara asked gently as she landed next to Alex, reaching out and gingerly stroking the side of her girlfriend's head. Alex flinched back reflexively.

"Fine. Just a bump. I'm still standing," the dark-haired girl waved a hand dismissively, with a wry little smile. Kara rolled her eyes.

"That's only because you're too stubborn to pass out," the blonde girl joked to mask her anxiety. "C'mere, let's get you to a medic..." Alex didn't resist as Kara lead her by the hand over to the DEO vehicle that _didn't_ have the bazooka, where a few of the medical agents were triaging minor injuries. Really, they had all gotten very lucky. No one was dead or on the ground, no need for any emergency evacs. But Alex did have a concussion, and Hank insisted that she come back to the DEO for a full medical workup, just to be sure there were no other hidden head injuries lurking below the surface. Kara was halfway into the humvee beside her girlfriend when Alex stopped her, begging her in a slightly whiny voice to go home and get her comfy pajamas and her favorite fuzzy blanket. If she was going to be forced to stay at the DEO overnight, she was going to be cozy.

Alex being cranky and demanding was oddly comforting to Kara, because she knew it meant her girlfriend wasn't too badly injured. When Alex was _really_ in pain, she shut down completely. "PJ's and fuzzy blankets coming right up," the blonde girl cooed with a sweet smile, closing the door of the humvee so she was momentarily alone with Alex, kissing her slowly and deliberately, one hand gently cradling her girlfriend's cheek.

"I love you," Alex murmured, her voice a little sleepy now as the effects of her concussion began to kick in.

"I love you too, Lexie. See you in a minute." Kara smiled encouragingly and opened the door, shooting into the sky faster than a bullet shooting from a gun.

…...

When Kara landed on their apartment balcony and let herself in through the sliding glass door, she felt her stomach growl angrily, suddenly realizing she hadn't eaten in several hours. And she'd just kicked large amounts of alien ass, which tended to burn through the calories pretty quickly. Deciding that a five minute snack wouldn't do any harm, Kara walked into the kitchen, still clad in her blue suit and red cape, and began rooting through the fridge; but then a strange, soft sucking sound caught her attention from the corner of the ceiling above her. It was a weird sound; and having no idea what it was, Kara naturally looked up.

She had less than half a second to be horrified by the outstretched tentacles encircling her before everything went deeply, peacefully black.

…...

 _...To be continued, of course! With a guaranteed shorter wait this time! ;)_


	13. Reality Bites

Hi Supergang!

Here's your weekend update, I hope you'll enjoy. It's obviously based on the "Girl Who Has Everything" episode, but I think you'll find it's quite different from the show (and a lot more enjoyable, if I do say so myself). No real spoilers since I'm diverging from canon so much. Have fun and give me your feedback!

Note: the Kryponese word _z_ _rhueiao_ means "lovely" in a specifically romantic/attraction way; I'm using it here as a term of endearment, like "my love." _Kri-zhao_ means "bright love," a soulmate bond, which you may remember was the title of the first chap of this fic. I found (and slightly modified) these words from an online Kryptonese dictionary. Yep. I'm all in. :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 13: Reality Bites**

…...

Fuzzy shapes started to swim in and out of the peaceful blackness where Kara was drifting, warm and content. "Uhhhmm," she sighed softly, stretching sleepily as her arms reached out automatically across the empty space in the bed beside her. "Lexie...?"

"I'm here, Kara. I'm right here," Alex's sweet voice cooed assuringly, close by. Kara suddenly became aware of her body as she felt her hand being slipped into her girlfriend's. The gentle way Alex always rubbed her thumb over the back of Kara's hand was soothing and familiar. Everything else was fuzzy and confused.

"What happened..." Kara muttered woozily.

But instead of answering her, Alex called out, "Alura! She's awake!" That snapped Kara to attention, her eyes flying open as she sat bolt upright in bed. This wasn't her bed. This wasn't her apartment. And these definitely weren't her clothes. "Hey, hey, relax. It's all right, my sweet Kara, you're all right," Alex hummed, stroking her hair soothingly. "Does your head still hurt? You hit it awfully hard."

"My...my head?" Kara asked uncertainly, putting one hand to her head even though she felt no pain. "No, I... _you_ hit your head, Alex, not me..." Kara's words died in her throat as she blinked and fully took in her girlfriend, sitting vigil protectively beside her in the bed. Alex...Alex didn't look like Alex. Her hair was longer than it had been since high school, tumbling over her shoulders and down her back in loose, dark waves. She was wearing a pure white dress, whiter than anything Kara had seen since...since she left Krypton. Kara's breathing became shallow as her mother walked into the room.

"Mom?" Kara's voice trembled with uncertainty as she looked at her mother standing in front of her. It was her mother...but it _couldn't_ be her mother...but it was. She was wearing the same blue dress Kara remembered from her childhood, when her mother would sit beside her in bed to tell her a story or sing her a lullaby. The blonde girl could still remember how soft the fabric was.

But she also remembered seeing Krypton explode in front of her eyes as her pod streaked away; she remembered landing on Earth, meeting Alex, the last twelve _years_ of her life. This couldn't be real. Kara jumped skittishly out of bed, grabbing Alex's hand and pulling the dark-haired girl behind her protectively. Clearly, they had both been captured and somehow trapped in this bizarre fantasy world. _That's not your mother_ , she said to herself silently, even as her heart tugged painfully and begged her to take the few steps across the room and throw herself into her mom's arms. _That's not your mother_.

"Kara, what's wrong?" The woman who was not her mother asked, looking slightly confused as she reached out a hand to her daughter. "You needn't be afraid, my darling. You're home now, you're fine."

"Stay away from us!" Kara shouted in a panicky voice, backing up with her hand still holding Alex's protectively behind her.

"Kara!" Alex reprimanded her sharply, sounding shocked. "Have you lost your mind? Don't speak to your mother this way."

"It's all right, Alex, she's simply confused from the head trauma," Alura said calmly, crossing the room and reaching out to stroke Kara's hair. The blonde girl felt frozen, unable to move or think. "Everything's all right now, my dear one. You're home safe. Can you remember the accident?"

"No. What accident? It wasn't an accident. We were fighting Non...Alex, he must have done this to us somehow...we've got to get out of here!" Kara tried to lift off into the air, intent on taking Alex with her and flying _anywhere_ safe until they figured this out. But she couldn't fly. Not even a little bit. She narrowed her eyes at the large glass window looking out over what _wasn't_ Argo City, it _wasn't Krypton,_ it wasn't real...but when she tried to blast through the glass with her laser vision, that didn't work either.

"Why aren't my powers working?" She yelled in frustration. "Whatever is doing this, it must be mimicking the effects of Krypton's sun..."

"Zrhueiao, we _are_ on Krypton," Alex said gently, circling around to face Kara and holding her head with both hands. She looked scared, her dark eyes wide with a combination of love and worry.

"You've never called me that," Kara said, quietly now, in wary disbelief. "And you've never been to Krypton. It exploded twelve years before you were _born_ , Alex. Don't you remember Earth? Don't you remember my pod crashing next to you when we were kids? We grew up in _Midvale_ , you played soccer and ran track, I sang in the glee club...you have to _remember,_ Alex!" Kara pleaded, gripping Alex's hands and pulling them gently off her face, squeezing their fingers tightly together.

"Alura?" Alex looked over at Kara's mother—no, that _wasn't_ her mother!—with confused worry shining in her dark eyes.

"Hush, Alexah, you needn't fret so," Alura Zor-El shook her head with a reassuring smile. _That's not her name,_ Kara thought but didn't say. _It's Alexandra_. "This confusion is simply the side-effect of the neural reparative serum the healers warned us was likely. It will soon fade. Kara, my beloved daughter, you must calm yourself," Alura turned her gaze to Kara's frightened blue eyes. "You must have had terrible hallucinations while your brain injury repaired itself. You've been unconscious for almost two days, sweet one. You saved a small child who had chased his ball across the rails of the hovertrain, do you remember that? The healers were here half the night. But you are well now, you are safe."

"Always the hero," Alex shook her head with a little huff of exasperation even as a smile curled the corner of her mouth. _That_ expression, Kara knew well. She'd seen it on Alex's face a million times before. "There was no need to throw yourself in front of a train to impress me, you know. I'm already yours." As she spoke, Alex raised her left hand gently to Kara's, and Kara felt her own hand being pulled of its own accord toward Alex's as the rings they both wore clicked magnetically together, like interlocking puzzle pieces. She stared down at their hands in disbelief, her heart thudding painfully at the sight in front of her eyes that she wanted so much to be true. Her and Alex, wearing a matching set of Kryptonian engagement rings. The kind that were specially designated for a love match; that is to say, a marriage that was not arranged to combine powerful houses, but rather a connection between two hearts that could not be broken. Kri-zhao. Bright love, brighter than the sun—on Earth or on Krypton. That was what she and Alex were. Unable to look away from the sight in front of her, Kara tentatively put out her free hand and ran it over their rings.

"This isn't real, Lexie," the blonde girl whispered, her eyes filling up with bittersweet tears. "We're not supposed to be here..."

"Of course we are, zrhueiao," Alex hummed soothingly, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, then leaning her forehead against's Kara's with her eyes closed, the way they had been doing since they were thirteen. "Where else would we be?"

…...

Back at the DEO, the _real_ Alex was on the verge of total panic. She had expected her girlfriend to arrive back at HQ _before_ the humvee, even with the pit stop at their apartment factored in. But she wasn't there before them, and she still wasn't there twenty minutes later, and she wasn't answering her Supergirl bluetooth-earring phone. She _always_ answered her Supergirl phone. J'onn promised to call James and Winn and Ms. Grant while Alex was in the med bay getting her head injury scanned by half a dozen different fancy machines; but half an hour later, when Alex was discharged from the med bay with strict instructions for the proper care of her concussion, Kara was still MIA. No one had seen or heard from her since she left McCarren Park almost an hour ago.

Naturally, Alex insisted on going after her girlfriend even with her recent head injury still fresh and fogging her mind slightly; and naturally, J'onn insisted on coming with her. Winn called again when they were on their way, anxious for an update, and when Alex explained that Kara was officially MIA in the aftermath of a major battle with Non and his troops, Winn and James and Lucy all showed up outside Kara and Alex's apartment, waiting anxiously for the DEO agents to arrive.

"Alex, thank God you're here, we're seriously worried," Winn gushed frantically, his hands clenched into useless fists at his sides. "I tried calling her cell again after we got here, and we could hear it ringing inside the apartment, but there was no answer. Do you have your keys?" The truth was, Alex was still spaced out from her concussion and had forgotten her keys (along with everything else) back at the DEO, grabbing only a gun that shot both bullets and kryptonite darts as she ran out of HQ.

"Yeah," She said stonily, kicking the door down with one swift movement, her gun never lowering. Winn made a mental note never to get on Alex's bad side.

"You civilians need to stay out here," Hank jerked his head gruffly to the hallway as the three CatCo employees made to follow Alex into the apartment. "This is classified government business."

"This is our best friend in trouble," James countered, his hand slipping into Lucy's, who squeezed it tight in support. "She'd do the same for any of us. In a heartbeat." J'onn opened his mouth to argue, but Alex cut him off.

"Sir, you don't know them like I do. They're family. There's no time for this, come on." Alex lead the small group into her apartment, gun at the ready, her eyes sweeping the perimeter of each area as they advanced through the entryway and dining area, to the kitchen.

"Oh, God," Alex whispered, the color draining from her face as her eyes fell on her girlfriend's body sprawled on the floor, a monstrous creature nested around her torso with long tentacles wrapped around her body and neck. The thing was pulsating, with smaller tentacles waving from the surface of its body like some kind of grotesque plant in bloom, clearly alive. Kara was alive too—she was still breathing—but other than the steady rise and fall of her chest, she was motionless on the ground. Alex felt her head throb as her vision became fuzzy, the combination of her fresh concussion and the terrifying sight in front of her causing her head to spin slightly. Winn was kneeling by Kara's head, trying to talk to her, to assure her that they were there and she'd be all right; but the blonde girl didn't so much as twitch in response. Alex began to feel dizzy, bright points of light spinning around her head like tiny stars. She could hear J'onn calling for a medical evac. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, trying to clear her foggy thoughts. _Stupid concussion._

"Alex, are you all right?" J'onn's hand was gripping her shoulder, pulling her sharply back to reality.

"I'm fine. We need to get her out of here," Alex shook him off, pulling several hi-tech gizmos out of J'onn's DEO go-bag, and scanning Kara and the creature. "It's some sort of parasite. It's gripping her torso with over 100 pounds of pressure. If she were human she'd be dead already."

"Maybe this...this thing wasn't made to attack humans," Lucy said grimly, looking from the frantic group to the girl lying motionless on the floor. "I hate to even think this, but...it _could_ be a bioengineered, weaponized lifeform from my father's R &D henchmen. He's already tried to kill Kara once, and he proved he has no regard for alien life at every available opportunity."

"No," Alex shook her head, holstering her gun and rubbing her eyes roughly. "This thing wasn't made by human hands. I know who sent it." She knew she couldn't get her hands on Non for interrogation, but she did know someone else she had at her disposal, waiting back at the DEO.

When the helicopter arrived to evacuate Kara, the entire group clambered in around her stretcher, and J'onn didn't have the patience or the heart to kick them all out. When Kara woke up, she was going to need as many familiar faces around her as possible. _When_ she woke up. Not if. Alex went straight into alpha mode, taking over the portable x-ray from one of the med techs and barking orders at the others as they lifted off the roof of their apartment building into the air. When she lost her train of thought for the third time in a row, stumbling over a word like someone just waking up from a dream, J'onn gently took the instruments out of her hands and pushed her down into one of the side-facing seats in the small craft, by Kara's head. There was a clear oxygen mask over the blonde girl's peacefully sleeping face.

"Hold her hand," J'onn instructed Alex gently, squeezing her shoulder. "You have a concussion, Alex. You're supposed to be on brain rest, no reading, no looking at screens, no complex math or science equations. I _know_ you have a headache." He tapped his temple meaningfully, reminding her silently that he could see inside her mind, without announcing to all these civilians that he was a martian. "You can't be her doctor right now. Let us to do that. Just be her love." Alex nodded defeatedly, squeezing Kara's hand in both of her own as she tried to hold back the tears burning her eyes.

"We're here, bluebird. We got you, you're safe. Just hang on, baby...please just hang on, and we'll get you out of this, I promise. Do you hear me?" Alex held onto Kara's hand tight, rubbing her thumb lightly over her girlfriend's skin the way she always did, without even thinking about it. "Come on, bluebird...come back to us..."

…...

Back on fantasy-Krypton, the blonde girl's thoughts were rapidly becoming foggy and confused, even more so than Alex's (the _real_ Alex, back on Earth in the DEO helicopter with her fresh concussion). Everything seemed just as it should be, but something wasn't right...she couldn't put her finger on it...but something felt wrong. Like a dream, but not a dream. Krypton was gone...but it wasn't gone. It was right here. Her parents were here, Alex was here. Everything was perfect...so why did she feel this way?

"You don't understand, Alex, you've been brainwashed or something," Kara shook her head frantically. "Maybe it just didn't work on me because I'm Supergirl..." Alex chuckled softly and cupped Kara's cheek in one hand, kissing her lightly.

"You're _my_ Supergirl, for certain," the dark-haired girl smiled, stroking Kara's cheek with her thumb. "But you're not invincible, dummy. You have to be more careful...your brain is still repairing itself. You're just confused, love. You need to rest now and let the medicine work...you're not getting out of marrying me next week, we already paid the caterers," Alex smirked jokingly, her light, teasing manner expressing all the love and concern reflected in her dark, shining eyes. Kara swallowed the lump in her throat. Marrying Alex...in front of her parents, her family, in the Great Sun Temple of Argo City...she'd fantasized about this a hundred thousand times. But it wasn't real. Krypton was gone.

 _"No_ , this isn't real...we live on...on..." Kara struggled suddenly to remember the word. She had a picture in her mind of a blue and green planet, but the word was hovering just out of reach... _"Earth!"_ She finished with a gasp.

"Dear one, Earth is thousands of light years away," her mother soothed her, sitting beside Alex at Kara's bedside and patting her leg reassuringly. "And why would I ever send you to that backwards planet?"

"Because...because..." Kara stuttered, unable to push her thoughts forward to their logical conclusion, blurriness drifting in and out of her sharp, clear memories. As she cast around wildly for the end of her thought, her eyes landed on a dent in the corner of the coffee table across the room. She started at it, dumbfounded. "That's where I fell and hit my head when I was chasing Aunt Astra," she whispered, crossing the room unsteadily and kneeling down beside the faded scuff in the old wood, running her fingers over it in disbelief.

"And even after you fell, you jumped right back up again," a new voice said from the doorway, full of warmth and affection. "Nothing can keep you down." Astra was smiling down at her niece, looking as pleased to see her as Alex and her mother had when she'd first opened her eyes. But seeing Astra's face kicked more of her _real_ memories up to the front of her mind, and she sprang from the floor with a snarl, grabbing her aunt by both shoulders and shaking her hard.

"You did this to me!" She yelled, staring into the shocked expression on her aunt's face without any sympathy for the older woman. "You got some sort of message to Non to sabotage us just when we were getting the upper hand against Myriad! What did you do?!"

"Kara, sweetheart, calm yourself," her mother said again, putting a pacifying hand on Kara's back. "Non was banished to the Phantom Zone years ago. You know that."

"No! That's not right," Kara shook her head, looking desperately to Alex, the only real person there with her, the only one she could trust. "Lexie, baby, _please_ , you have to remember! We were just fighting Non an hour ago! Back on...on..." her brain stalled, words and pictures slipping from her mind like leaves on a gently flowing river current. "Why can't I remember?!" She demanded, furious and terrified.

"All nightmares fade the longer we are awake, zrhueiao," Alex said gently, smoothing Kara's long hair back from her face with both hands. "I'm right here with you, Kara. I'll never let anything hurt you." Alex took Kara's hand and pressed it firmly over her own heart, so Kara could feel her girlfriend's warm, steady heartbeat. In the back of her mind, Kara had a memory of Alex's heartbeat feeling different...slower...her skin was supposed to feel cooler than Kara's...but she couldn't remember why.

"This isn't right, Lexie," Kara whispered, shaking her head weakly with tears welling up in her confused blue eyes.

"Kara?" A young voice pulled her attention to the doorway, where a little boy with black hair and blue eyes stood smiling up at her, holding out one of her old toy puzzles, the galaxy sphere.

"Kal-El?" Kara whispered, taking in her young cousin with pained confusion in her eyes. He held out the toy to her, covered in Kryptonese writing.

"Do you still remember how to open it?" He asked, holding the silver sphere up to her with an expectant smile. Kara took it wonderingly from his hands, and began turning it on its axis, pushing down on one panel after another between each turn, until a holographic projection of the Andromeda galaxy expanded into the room all around them. "Look, Kara, there's Krypton," little Kal-El pointed, cuddling up to her side and holding her arm with both his small hands. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"It's so beautiful..." Kara whispered, her eyes shining bright with unshed tears.

…...

When the medic helicopter arrived back at the DEO, J'onn allowed Alex to come into the isolation room with him and the med team, but gave her strict orders (very loudly, so everyone else in the room could hear) that he would kick her out if she so much as picked up a medical instrument. She was only there to be with Kara, _not_ to treat her. The dark-haired girl was as frightened as she could ever remember being, and furious at not being able to help. She pulled a chair up by the head of the flat metal exam table where Kara was lying, enveloped in the creature's crushing grip. She watched the inner surface of the clear oxygen mask gently fog and then clear with every breath Kara took.

"I'm here bluebird. We're all here. Hank and the DEO, and your friends...we're all here with you, baby. You have to come back to us. We need you..." Alex's voice broke as hot tears ran down her cheeks, and she took Kara's hand in her own, holding it against her face so Kara could feel her skin. "We need you so much, Kara..."

"This doesn't make any sense," Dr. Schwartzman frowned as she looked from the high-tech portable brain scanner in her hand back up at Hank.

"What?" Alex asked, springing instantly to her feet despite the head rush that came along with it.

"She's unresponsive to outside stimuli, but her brain function is normal. It's like...it's like her brain has no idea that anything is wrong. Her body is behaving like it's in a dream state, but she's not dreaming. Her brain is awake. At least, according to these readouts." The doctor frowned as she stared down at the small screen in her hand. Alex looked out through the clear glass door, where Winn and James and Lucy were all staring in at them with the same frightened, helpless expression that Alex felt herself. Winn was pacing and holding his head in his hands, like he might explode with anxiety.

A few minutes later, a large titanium claw was wheeled in from a back room and centered above the creature holding Kara captive. Dr. Schwartzman held the controls, slowly lowering the claw until its metal arms were hooked around the creature; then it slowly began to raise up again, the enormous parasite still gripped in its metal claws. Kara went into a seizure, her body jerking as if she were being electrocuted, while her breathing became shallow and rapid. Her vitals began to flatline.

"She's crashing! _Stop!"_ Alex screamed, gripping Kara's twitching hand even more tightly. The medics didn't need to be told twice, and quickly the claw was lowered again and removed from around the creature's body. Kara's stats immediately returned to normal.

"It's some sort of symbiotic defense mechanism," Alex shook her head defeatedly, looking from the doctors back to her boss. "If we try to pull that thing off by force...it'll kill her."

"We need some answers, _fast,_ " J'onn said gruffly, looking only at Alex. He might not be able to see inside Kara's Kryptonian mind, but the creature...whatever it was...he could sense _its_ mind just fine. It was happy, content. It was feeding. Off what, exactly, J'onn didn't know; none of its disgusting tentacles were breaking through Kara's ironclad skin, it wasn't sucking her blood or eating her brain. But somehow, it was feeding, he knew that. He couldn't tell the medics or anyone else what he saw with his telepathy, which was infuriating, but he couldn't. Blowing his cover as Hank Henshaw wouldn't help Kara. So, he looked at Alex. Meaningfully.

"We want answers? I know who has them," Alex said stonily, standing up from Kara's bedside (another head rush, God _damn_ this concussion was starting to piss her off), and gently laying her girlfriend's hand back down on the exam table before marching purposefully from the room. Hank followed her, leaving the medics to do their best work. He knew where Alex was headed, and he walked beside her in silence to the guarded door to Astra's cell. All it took was a nod from their young assistant director to make the guards stand aside and open the door. Once inside, Hank dialed in the code on the override panel to make the glass door to Astra's cell open as well. The Kryptonite levels were still keeping Astra's powers at bay; she was the same as any human prisoner now. Without a word, Alex sprinted into the glass cell and knocked Astra down on her back, pressing one knee hard against the woman's chest while her arm pressed down just as hard across Astra's throat.

 _"How do we get that thing off of Kara?!"_ The young agent snarled, her dark eyes flashing with protective fury. She was so furious, so terrified, so woozy from her concussion, she didn't fully process the look of complete shock (and even concern, perhaps?) on the older woman's face. Astra tried to speak, but Alex's arm was pushing so hard against her windpipe that only a gurgle came out. Alex let up slightly on the pressure, but not enough to allow the older woman to move.

"I do not know...what you speak of," Astra panted out when she was able to breathe again. "What has happened to Kara?"

 _"Don't_ play dumb with me, I will snap you in half like a twig," Alex growled through gritted teeth. She pressed her knee harder into Astra's breastbone, making the older woman gasp like she'd been sucker-punched.

"On my honor under the light of Rao...I do not know anything of this matter," Astra swore, her eyes wide with fear. But was it fear for herself, or fear for Kara? Did she actually care? "Please...Alex," the older woman said awkwardly, her mouth forming the strange human name for the first time. "Tell me what has happened to my niece. If I have sufficient information, I may be able to help her."

"You _really_ think I'm that stupid? Why would you want to help Kara after you already tried to kill her twice? You think I'm letting you near her when she's unconscious and defenseless?" Alex was rapidly losing it, and J'onn stepped into the cell, seeing on Astra's face that she was legitimately suffocating under the young agent's death grip.

"Alex, that's enough!" J'onn barked at his top agent, grabbing her around her waist and physically picking her up off Astra and depositing her on her feet, putting himself between her and the prisoner. "She could have killed Kara before, but she didn't. She has no way of contacting her troops from inside this cell. She has no powers, she's completely defenseless. If she can tell us _anything_ that might help Kara, we have to listen." J'onn stared her down unwaveringly. Alex ran her hand through her hair impatiently and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine. Talk. Tell us everything you know about this huge disgusting parasite that's wrapped around Kara's chest. It's green and it has these oozy pinkish tentacles waving around on its back. Four big green ones wrapping around her torso. One more wrapped around her throat. She's unresponsive to outside stimuli, but her brain activity is normal. It's like she's in some kind of lucid coma." Alex stared at the older woman expectantly. Astra's eyes grew wide and horrified, her expression far away.

"The black mercy," the Kryptonian general said quietly, almost more to herself than to Alex. "Non, what have you done?"

"Tell me how to get it off her, _now,"_ Alex demanded in her most authoritative, secret government agent voice. But then a brief wave of dizziness rolled over her, and she stumbled a little before J'onn caught her by the arm.

"What has happened to you?" Astra asked, sounding more curious than concerned.

"Your husband," Alex spat back, pushing J'onn away indignantly as soon as the dizzy spell passed. She couldn't let herself be weak right now. Kara needed her. She had to be strong for Kara. "Now tell us everything you know."

…...

After only a few minutes of Astra's detailed explanation of the telepathic parasite and the perfect fantasy world it created for its victims, they finally understood what the creature was feeding off: her brainwaves. They had to bring Winn in once Astra began telling them how to save Kara, he was quite honestly a tech genius beyond anyone on staff at the DEO. And a good thing, too, because the telepathic virtual reality headgear that would allow another person to enter Kara's fantasy world needed to be assembled in hours, not days, if they were to have any chance of bringing her home. She had to reject the fantasy of her own free will; and the longer she stayed under, the more real it became, while her memories of the real world grew more and more distant.

"If this turns out to be a bunch of bullshit..." Alex warned Astra as Winn finished compiling his notes, and they all rose to leave Astra's cell, "If anything happens to Kara...I am coming back down here with my favorite Kryptonite sword."

"If anything happens to Kara...I will not stop you," Astra said quietly, her sharp blue eyes never wavering from Alex's dark, intensely ferocious glare. In the back of her mind, Alex knew in that moment that Astra was telling the truth. She could have killed Kara several times already, but she hadn't. And she never would.

Just four hours later in the tech lab, when Winn announced proudly that the device was ready, he looked around at all of them expectantly; but no one seemed nearly as impressed as he'd hoped. He was as focused on saving Kara as anyone, of course; but still, he had just pulled off a tech build so insanely advanced in such an insanely short time, even Maxwell Lord would be impressed. If he were here.

"All right, so how will this work? I'll still remember everything once I go into Kara's mind, right? I won't feel the effects of the black mercy?" Alex already had the digital visor in her hands and was hopping up onto the metal exam table beside her unconscious girlfriend.

"You must've hit your head even harder than I thought if you think I'm letting you go under an experimental consciousness-altering technology with a concussion," J'onn said in his gruff but fatherly tone, raising both eyebrows at his best and most beloved agent. "You won't be doing Kara any good if you go into a coma, Alex. Anything could happen. You might not come back."

"If I don't come back then I'll be with Kara," Alex answered back just as stonily, her tone commanding, not requesting. "I'm the _only_ one who can bring her back, it _has_ to be me. I've known her since the moment she took her first breath on this planet. We found each other across separate _galaxies_. There is no one on Earth who has a chance to reach her the way I can." Without waiting for a response, Alex laid down and put the headgear on, patiently waiting while Winn fiddled with the controls and adjusted the modulation one last time.

"Are we sure this will work?" James asked hesitantly, standing by Kara's head with Lucy beside him, holding the blonde girl's limp hand. They'd stayed by her side the entire time Winn and Alex were in the tech lab working on the headset.

"I don't know," Winn admitted, clicking the visor into place over Alex's eyes. "I guess we're about to find out."

"More doing, less talking," Alex commanded, still sounding authoritative even lying on her back with her eyes covered. "Either I come back with my girl, or I don't come back at all."

"Okay," Winn nodded, determination replacing the uncertainty in his voice. "As soon as I flip the switch, your consciousness will merge with Kara's. You'll see everything she's seeing. Once you get her to reject the fantasy, you should both wake up on your own." Nobody asked what would happen if Alex couldn't get Kara to reject the fantasy.

"Do it," Alex said quietly. Winn squeezed her hand in silent support. Then he flipped the switch.

…...

Moments later, Alex gasped and jumped up from the floor, looking around at the clean, angular room she was in, and the huge window looking out over a shining white city under the glow of a huge red sun. "Holy shit, I'm on Krypton," Alex murmured to herself. Her head still throbbed dizzily; she had been sort of hoping she wouldn't feel the effects of her head injury inside a fantasy, but oh well. There was no one in the room around her, but she could hear distant voices echoing down the hall, so she followed them. Even though she knew none of this was real, she still drew her gun and held it at the ready as she crept stealthily down the long corridor. Even if the bullets weren't real, the fantasy didn't know that, and if it came right down to it she would use any means necessary to get to Kara. When she finally came to the spacious, open living room where the voices were emanating from, she stopped short. There, seated on some weird, round Kryptonian couches, were Kara, her parents, little Kal-El...and another Alex. Was this who Kara wanted her to be? Kryptonian nobility in a fancy white dress?

"Kara?" Alex said uncertainly as she took a few tentative steps into the room, lowering her gun but not putting it away. Kara jumped up from her seat like it was on fire, holding onto fantasy-Alex's hand very tightly.

"Who...what are you? Are you a shapeshifter? What do you want with us?" Kara's blue eyes were wide with confusion and suspicion. She was wearing a flowing white dress, too, and her long blonde hair had been straightened. She looked beautiful...but she didn't look like herself.

"Kara, listen to me. You've been attacked by a creature called the black mercy. None of this is real," Alex said slowly and clearly, looking only at Kara. "Krypton is gone. You know that. I'm here to bring you home." Alex held out her hand.

"I am home," Kara replied a little too insistently, as if she were trying to convince herself as well as Alex. "And you're not Alex. You're...you're some kind of shapeshifter spy. I _won't_ let you harm my family." Fantasy-Alex stood up protectively in front of Kara, holding the blonde girl's hand in both of her own.

"Leave us before I call for the house guards, shapeshifter," Fantasy-Alex said coolly. "Impersonating a Kryptonian citizen is an intergalactic offense. My mother-in-law will have you banished to the Phantom Zone for all eternity."

"Shut up, you freakshow fantasy clone! I'm _not_ impersonating you, you're impersonating _me!_ Kara, it's me, it's Lexie. You have to know me, you have to remember," Alex begged, taking a step closer as she holstered her gun and held out a hand to her girlfriend beseechingly. "I know it hurts, but you _have_ to remember. Krypton is gone. Your parents sent you to Earth to save you, your pod crashed behind my house in Midvale. Remember Midvale, Kara, remember our life...remember the first time you saw a bird, remember ice cream and potstickers, remember sneaking out in high school and flying together over the clouds; remember Ms. Grant, and Winn, and your friends...they're all waiting for you. They're holding your hand. You're lying on an exam table unconscious right now, baby. You're not really here, and neither am I. Because this isn't real. And that is _not_ me," the dark-haired girl snarled as she threw a death-glare at the fantasy version of her, still clinging to her girlfriend's hand.

"Kara, I'm scared," the fantasy version of young Superman whimpered as he stood up on Kara's other side and clung to her arm with both hands.

"It's all right, Kal-El," Kara said quietly, still staring at Alex with an expression of deep uncertainty and conflict on her face. She took a step away from her fantasy-family, toward Alex...and for a moment the dark-haired girl felt her heart leap with joy and relief. Then a heavy metal object was gripped tightly in Kara's hand from the side table, cracking against the side of Alex's head with a shooting pain that ended in blackness.

…...

The moment Alex blacked out inside the fantasy, her body back on the lab table began to seize and twitch, her breathing shallow and her vitals slowly going downhill. Whatever was going on inside her head—or rather, whatever was happening to her inside _Kara's_ head—Alex was clearly losing. Her blood pressure was dropping dangerously low, and her breath sounded labored and wheezy.

"Something's wrong. This is killing her. I'm pulling her out," Hank said, stepping forward and reaching for the shiny headset covering Alex's eyes and her dark hair.

"No, you can't!" Winn exclaimed, jumping up from his seat in alarm, while James stretched his arms protectively over Alex's twitching body.

"This is _my_ agent. She is _my_ responsibility," the DEO director barked at them, furious that he had to justify himself to these civilians.

"We know that, Director Henshaw," James said in a calming, but still deadly serious tone. "And we know Alex is more than just an agent to you. She's family. She's our family too...so is Kara."

"You think I don't know that?" J'onn yelled at James, losing his composure in a way he never had in battle. "I want them _both_ back!"

"Then give her more time, sir. I'm begging you," James pleaded.

"She doesn't _have_ time, Mr. Olsen. She's dying," J'onn said stonily.

"We all heard what she said, sir," Lucy said in a quieter voice, stepping up beside her boyfriend and holding one of Alex's twitching hands gently. "She wants to save Kara, at any cost. If you pull her out before she can do that...if she wakes up alone...she'll never be the same person again. You know that." J'onn gave a growl of frustration, pacing back and forth across the room in limbo.

"Kara would want us to have faith," Winn piped up, his voice the calmest of them all, somehow. "You know that's what she'd say, if she could. Have faith in Alex. Have faith in Kara to come back to us. They can do it, sir...the two of them, together, they can do just about anything." He gave a grim smile. J'onn huffed angrily and sat back down, arms across his chest.

…...

When Alex came to, she was on her knees in some kind of court room. It was round, with an impossibly high ceiling, and stadium-style seating that rose higher with each level, allowing the people at the back to see over the heads of the people in the front. Kara's mother stood at some sort of podium in the center. Alex tried to look around, but her head throbbed worse than ever, and when she tried to reach up to touch her temple, she found her hands bound in very thick, heavy handcuffs. She could still move them if she moved them together; and when she did touch the side of her head, it was bloody. _That's not real blood. You're not really in handcuffs_ , she told herself firmly, looking around the room for Kara.

The blonde girl was seated between little Kal-El on one side, and fake-Alex on the other, right in the front row. All three of them were clad in garments of pure white with the sigil of the House of El pressed into the fabric. Kara was holding fake-Alex's hand. It should make Alex feel good, to know that she was part of Kara's perfect fantasy world; but it only made her more scared and angry. Scared that Kara thought she was sitting next to the person she trusted most in the universe, but she _wasn't._ Angry that Kara still needed to be told that that wasn't her. The furious terror helped clear Alex's aching head, and she stood up, two guards standing at attention on either side of her.

"For the crime of impersonating a member of the Kryptonian nobility and infiltrating the great House of El, this court finds the alien shapeshifter guilty of espionage, and imposes the maximum sentence," Alura Zor-El said calmly from her podium. "Lifetime banishment to the Phantom Zone." Alex looked desperately at Kara, taking a step forward; one of the guards grabbed her arm, but she just elbowed him hard in the stomach and he went down. Even in handcuffs and with a concussion, Alex was a badass.

"Kara, please, you have to remember. You have to remember what's real! If you don't come home, if you don't choose the real world, we'll both be trapped here until the black mercy kills us." The guard she'd knocked down was up again, and she was struggling against both of them just to stay on her feet, refusing to be dragged away. "That symbol on your chest, it isn't just your house sigil! On Earth it's a symbol of hope, of bravery, of _Supergirl_. _You_ , Kara."

"Supergirl?" The blonde girl stood up uncertainly, looking at Alex differently now, with confusion in her eyes. The fake world around them began to rumble and shake, like an earthquake. Like the fantasy world in Kara's head was beginning to crumble. It was working.

"Yes! Remember that life, Kara! All the good you've done, all the lives you've saved. Remember all the people who love you, who need you back on Earth." The ground under them gave another frightening lurch, and little Superman grabbed onto Kara's arm in fear again. The creature was trying to use Kara's own subconscious guilt against her; Alex knew there was a part of Kara that had never forgiven herself for not being there for Clark when he was a baby, even though it was never her fault.

"She's trying to confuse you with lies, zrhueiao," Fake Alex said soothingly, holding Kara steady as the room continued to rumble and quake around them. "Krypton is our home." One of the guards punched Alex hard in the stomach and she fell to her knees again.

"Why do you think they're trying so hard to silence me? It's because they're afraid of what I have to say!" Alex yelled desperately, pushing through the pain and jumping to her feet again, punching the guards with her cuffed fists and jabbing any part of them she could reach with her knees and elbows. "Kara, please, I can't choose this for you...you have to choose it for yourself," Alex sobbed, unashamed as tears welled up and spilled down her cheeks. "You have to remember, bluebird... _please!"_

"Bluebird..." Kara murmured, her eyes locked on Alex. She was paying no attention to fake-Alex and young Kal-El who were both tugging on her arms, begging her not to listen.

"Yes! Remember our life, Kara, remember that day. The day you saw your first bird at the beach after school. I put my arms around you and called you my bluebird...you remember that, Kara. You _know_ what's real!" Alex had to keep fighting the guards with every breath; and when she finally got past them, Kara's father was there, holding Alex tight around her upper arms and trying to push her back again. Alex just stared at Kara, her dark eyes pleading and full of tears.

"...This isn't real," Kara whispered, looking from her little cousin to her fantasy-Alex, her eyes traveling over their faces. "You're not Alex," the blonde girl shook her head, her blue eyes scared and confused and regretful as she backed away. Kara tried to take a step toward the real Alex, but then her mother stepped out from behind the podium to stop her.

"Kara, no! We were happy before she came. We can be happy again," her mother begged, squeezing both of Kara's hands in her own.

"I'm so sorry," Kara whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I can't stay here. This isn't real." Her mother was crying, too, and pulled her into a tight hug. Even though she knew it was a fantasy, Kara hugged her back.

"We will never let you leave," the creature said flatly, using Alura's voice. Her eyes had gone pure black. Kara cried out and pulled herself out of her fake mother's arms.

"Lexie!" the blonde girl screamed, reaching out for Alex as her mother held her back, and two more guards pushed Alex away from her.

"Take my hand!" Alex screamed back, reaching out her fingers as far as she could. They weren't close enough. The ground beneath them gave another rumbling lurch, and Alex used the opportunity to knock out one of the guards, crawling on her hands and knees across the broken ground toward Kara.

"Lexie, please, I'm sorry," Kara sobbed, still reaching for Alex with all her strength. But she wasn't Supergirl here. Alex fell flat on her stomach as the ground continued to lurch under them, but she still reached toward Kara as hard as she could, fingers outstretched in desperation, like a drowning victim reaching for a rescue float.

"I got you...I got you..." Alex cried, their fingers so close now...so close...then the room went blindingly bright white, and all the rumbling and the screaming and the fighting faded away. Alex took in a deep gasp of air, pushing the visor off her head and jumping from the metal table like she'd just been zapped with a cattle prod.

"Hey, hey, Alex, it's okay. Take it easy," J'onn said gently, his martian heart pounding with relief at the sight of Alex's sharp eyes staring into his. He'd been so afraid he would never get to look into Alex's eyes again. The dark-haired girl looked wildly around the room, panting...and her eyes fell on Kara, still unconscious on the table beside her with the creature wrapped snugly around her.

"...You pulled me out?" She whispered, looking up at her boss like she was going to rip his throat out with her bare hands. _"Why_ did you pull me out? She was about to choose us, she was about to come home! _Why did you do that?!"_ The exhausted young agent was becoming hysterical, fighting J'onn's strong grip on her the same way she'd been fighting the fantasy guards inside Kara's head a moment ago.

"Alex. _Alex!"_ J'onn yelled to get her attention back.

 _"What?!"_ She screamed, her whole body shaking.

"I didn't pull you out!" J'onn shook his head.

"You didn't...then how am I..." Alex trailed off, her fury deflating with confusion and wary disbelief as she looked over at Kara. After a few silent moments, the creature's long tentacles began to withdraw from around her body, and it crawled off her onto the floor, where it withered up into a grey, motionless corpse within moments.

"That is one messed up daffodil," Winn muttered in disgust, staring at it. But Alex was staring at Kara, who was blinking her blue eyes, pushing off her oxygen mask and struggling to sit up on her metal exam table.

"It's all right, Kara, it's over," Lucy soothed the frightened blonde girl, taking her hand as she was the closest one to Kara's side at that moment. Kara looked around the room in a daze, her blue eyes bright with tears that did not fall. When she saw Alex, she started to cry, and Alex scrambled around the table to get to her, their arms wrapping tight around each other in an instant.

"Lexie, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," Kara wept, her whole body shaking.

"Shh, it's okay Kar, it's okay, it wasn't you, it wasn't your fault..." Alex murmured soothingly into Kara's hair, tears of joy shining on her cheeks. The rest of them just looked around at each other and shared quiet sighs of relief. "I got you, my bluebird...and I'm never letting go." When Kara finally raised her tearstained face from the comfort and safety of Alex's neck, she looked around the room, at the faces of the people she loved, all looking back at her with affection and relief glowing in their faces. They all looked exhausted. How long had she been like this?

"Thank you guys for being here...thank you so much," The blonde girl sniffed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. Winn grabbed a box of kleenex from beside the computer console and handed her one.

"Are you kidding? Where else would we be?" Winn asked good-naturedly, giving her an affectionate punch on the shoulder. Kara's body gave an involuntary shudder of unease at his words; it reminded her of fake-Alex, in her fantasy, saying the same thing. For a brief moment, Kara felt scared that she no longer knew what was real.

"Geez, sorry I punched you, girl of steel," Winn said, half-joking as he saw her shudder, thinking it was from his punch rather than his words. "Did that actually hurt?"

"No, stupid. You just...reminded me of something from my fantasy...at least, I think it was a fantasy...this is real now, right? This is really real?" Kara looked around the group anxiously. They were all as familiar to her as her own face in the mirror...but so had everyone in her dream world.

"You tell me if this is real," Alex murmured in her ear, taking her face in one hand and kissing her. Kara pulled the dark-haired girl into her lap, floating them both several feet above the lab table as the sensations of joy and flying twined together inside her, just like the first time she and Alex had kissed; she'd levitated them all the way up to the ceiling that night without even noticing.

"Thank you..." Kara whispered as they pulled apart, floating gently back down to the ground.

"You don't have to thank me for kissing you, dummy," Alex grinned, seeming a little punch-drunk on the combination of relief, the fogginess of her concussion, and the sweetness of Kara's lips.

"No, I mean thank you for saving me," Kara shook her head, beaming shyly. "For being _my_ Supergirl."

"Always," Alex smiled. Then she nestled her head down against Kara's shoulder and yawned softly. "Can we go home now, Chief? My head hurts."

"Oh my God, Lexie! I completely forgot! The fight, the rally, you got hurt! I was supposed to bring you your cozy pajamas..."

"Yeah, well, you tried," Alex grinned sleepily, snuggling more deeply into Kara's lap with her head against Kara's neck. "It's not your fault you were waylaid by an intergalactic telepathic succubus."

"Go home. Rest. Ibuprofen. No reading, no TV," Hank reminded her, clapping her on the shoulder.

"Thanks Chief," Kara beamed, hopping off the table with Alex still held snugly in her arms.

"Kara! I can walk," Alex protested, blushing slightly at Kara began to walk with her towards the door.

"I know you can. I just don't want to let go of you," Kara said simply with a smile.

"Oh." Alex wrapped both arms tight around Kara's neck, burying her face in her girlfriend's sweet-smelling blonde hair. "Okay."

…...

Once they were home and cuddled up in bed with a huge mountain of snacks (that were all for Kara; Alex was queasy from her headache and Kara didn't have the heart to be strict with her right now), Alex began tentatively testing the waters to see if she could talk to Kara about the things she'd seen inside her girlfriend's fantasy world.

"So...I saw Krypton today," the dark-haired girl said casually, with one hand wrapped possessively around the blonde superhero's hip under the covers.

"Yeah..." Kara replied in a flat sort of voice, feeling a strange mix of confusion and loss and shame from her recent trip inside her own subconscious.

"Is it okay if we talk about it?" Alex asked gently, rubbing her thumb soothingly over Kara's skin under the sheets.

"Yeah," Kara said again, shoving an entire candy bar in her mouth in one bite.

"I'm glad I was there, you know. Not the real me, I mean—I'm glad I was part of your perfect fantasy," Alex said gently, propping herself up on one elbow and looking down at her girlfriend's guarded expression with a soft smile.

"I could never have a perfect fantasy if you weren't there," Kara shook her head, a small smile cracking through the somber expression on her face. "But it didn't mean...I don't want you to change, Lex. If that's what you're asking. I think it was just the only way for my brain to bring you into my memories of Krypton, if you looked the part. _I_ was dressed different there, too."

"I know, I know. That's not what I was asking," Alex shook her head, a small smile curling the corner of her lip. Kara melted. That smile. She could stare at it forever. "The other me...when she was threatening me and telling me to get out...she said...she called your mom her mother-in-law. Were we...were we married in your fantasy?" Alex's pale face blushed bright pink. Kara smiled shyly back.

"Almost. We were engaged. I think the wedding was close, though, because you—the _other_ you, I mean—told me we'd already paid the caterers." They smiled at each other quietly for a moment, their hands playing absently with each other's hair.

"We've never talked about it," Alex pointed out after a silence that felt much longer than it was.

"I know," Kara nodded. "I mean, it's too soon for that talk, isn't it? We've only been together for, what, six months?"

"Technically, yeah," Alex agreed, sliding her fingers through Kara's hair and brushing lightly against the skin at the back of her neck. She knew Kara loved that. "But really...we've been together half our lives. We're nothing like a regular couple that's been together six months."

"We're nothing like a regular couple, period," Kara smirked, soaking up the pure tactile pleasure of Alex's fingers in her hair, brushing her skin.

"And I know you want to marry me because I saw it in your mind...and if you'd gone down the rabbit hole into _my_ perfect fantasy world...you would've seen the same thing."

"I would?"

"Of course you would, you big dummy," Alex beamed, laughing a little at the shy look of surprise on her girlfriend's face. "You're my _Kri-zhao_ _..._ and I'm yours."

"I'm definitely awake right now, right? You're really you? This is really happening?" Kara asked, half joking, half cautious, because being trapped inside a perfect dream world _does_ tend to mess with one's sense of reality for a little while.

"Well...when we tell our parents we're getting married, my mom is going to immediately cry and ask about her future grandchildren, and your foster dad is going to try to save us from that awkward conversation with alcohol," Alex smiled fondly. "And they're for sure going to want to throw us an engagement party in Midvale to show us off to all their friends, like they tried to do at Christmas." Kara laughed, and then somehow, she was crying.

"Lexie...my brave girl, my _zrhueiao..._ will you marry me and make my fantasy world real?" Kara smiled through her tears.

"My fantasy is already real. I'm going to spend the rest of my life making yours real, too," Alex grinned goofily back at her, kissing her for all she was worth.

"So that's a yes?" Kara asked breathlessly when they broke apart.

 _"Yes,_ that's a yes," Alex laughed, kissing her again. "Should we go get some champagne to celebrate?"

"You can't have champagne, you big dummy. You have a concussion!" Kara scolded, stroking her fingers lovingly through Alex's hair and gently rubbing the side of her head. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you tonight, making sure you're on brain rest."

"You want me on brain rest?" Alex teased, leaning back against the pillows. "Okay. You got me. I'm flat on my back, my brain's not going anywhere. How are you gonna keep me here?" Her dark eyes flashed teasingly, and Kara laughed, peeling off her pajamas before she began to attack Alex's. She was going to make very, very sure that her girlfriend...no, her _fiancee_...took her bedrest very seriously. Doctor's orders.


	14. Falling From Grace Part 1

Hi Supergang!

Sorry you had to wait a couple of weeks for your update; I had a bunch of obligatory family travel that ate up my weekends. This chapter is actually the first part of a two-parter, because it's already _so long_ and it's nowhere near done, so I just stopped at what seemed like a good cliffhanger/intermission. Obviously based on episode 1x16, "Falling," but placed in my Kalex canon world, yay. Part 2 will be forthcoming! :)

PS—does everyone know that The Talk is a real daytime talk show? I thought it was very cool that they got the entire cast of The Talk to cameo as themselves on Supergirl! It's like a crossover episode between fiction and reality, ooohhhhh. And speaking of crossovers, I stuck in one itty-bitty lil bit of crossover fun in this chap, too. If you don't like it, you are dead to me (kidding/not totally kidding).

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 14: Falling from Grace, Part 1**

…...

The live studio audience cheered wildly as Cat Grant was introduced as the day's guest on The Talk, the most popular daytime talk show in National City and most of America. After Cat and Sharon Osbourne exchanged slightly-too-polite pleasantries about how young the other looked, Sara Gilbert stepped in and asked the question everyone in America was waiting for: what it was like to have a personal relationship with Supergirl.

"Supergirl is everything you think she is," Cat smiled, with an unmistakable tone of pride and admiration, that conveyed more emotion than anything she'd ever write on paper and send to print. "She's strong, she's brave...but Supergirl's most remarkable quality, honestly, is that she's the kindest person I've ever known."

While Cat was in the recording studio at The Talk, Kara was soaring through the air above National City, doing a routine morning sweep. She had her eyes closed, as she often did when focusing on extending her hearing into a wide radius around her; and though there were no screams or explosions or gunfire at the moment, she _did_ hear the sound of some schoolyard bullies shoving and taunting a classmate, hurling homophobic slurs and laughing that they were going to take him out with the trash.

"See that, faggot? That's where you belong," Dave Karovsky laughed cruelly as two of his beefcake football goon sidekicks picked Kurt Hummel up between them and prepared to throw him up and over the edge of the dumpster. "With the rest of the garbage. See all those people?" He waved his hand to gesture to the many students and teachers milling around within eyeshot on their way into school, all of them acting as if they couldn't see the physical assault happening in their midst. "Nobody wants to come help you, cream puff, do they? Nobody cares."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that." Kara landed beside the boys so swiftly and silently, the two football players who were holding Kurt just dropped him right onto the grass, while Karovsky stepped back so quickly he lost his footing and fell on his ass.

"No way... _Supergirl?_ Man, you're even hotter up close than you are on the news," Karovsky gaped, not even trying to regain his footing as he looked up in stunned awe at the blonde superhero standing over him.

"Gee, you can imagine how much that means to me, coming from someone who thinks it's fun to throw people in the garbage," Kara said lightly, folding her arms over her chest and staring at him in silence for a moment. Karovsky gulped and stared down at his shoes, unable to look back at her. Kara looked at the other boy, the intended victim, who luckily had not been tossed into the huge, smelly dumpster before she got there. She used her x-ray eyes to look through his bag to the pages of his homework inside, so she could read his name.

"Kurt, are you okay?" She asked him warmly as she offered the well-dressed young man her hand to help him stand up. Kurt was so flabbergasted, he took her hand without a word, staring wide-eyed at the larger-than-life young hero who somehow knew his name.

"Yo, man...you friends with Supergirl?" Azimio asked incredulously, looking back and forth between them with the same nervous expression as Karovsky.

"Well sure. I'm friends with _all_ the fabulous kids," Kara shrugged, with a wink for the wide-eyed blonde boy. The football goons hastily gave him back his jacket and brushed the dirt off his back. "So the next time you think it might be cool to pick on someone because they're different from you...don't. Or I'll hear about it." The football goons all nodded wordlessly, looking completely dumb-struck. "See you later, Kurt," Kara winked, and streaked away. Kurt stood smiling up at the sky in silence for a moment. Rachel and Mercedes were _never_ going to believe this.

…...

The Talk was on the air by the time Kara finished her morning sweep, changed into her work clothes and came into the office; she was on her way to bring Ms. Grant her latte when she stopped short in the wide-open office space filled with TV screens, all of them currently showing Ms. Grant's interview. She smiled shyly as she watched Ms. Grant talk about her. Of course, she didn't do the things she did for the sake of getting praised for it, she never had; but it was nice, so nice, to hear someone she respected so much talking about her with such pride and admiration.

"Supergirl inspires us to be our best selves," Ms. Grant said on the many TVs mounted all around the executive lobby. "We can learn a lot from her. _I_ have learned a lot from her." Kara's attention was so focused on the Ms. Grant on the TV screen, she didn't notice the real Ms. Grant walking up behind her.

"Enraptured, are we?" Ms. Grant said to her in a slightly teasing way; but it wasn't the mean kind of teasing. Kara looked at her and blushed, and Ms. Grant gave her a little wink.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Grant, I was just coming to bring you your latte," Kara exclaimed anxiously, holding out the cup.

"It's all right, Kara, don't wet yourself," Ms. Grant rolled her eyes. "I did give a brilliant interview, didn't I? One can hardly blame you for being distracted from your duties." Kara smiled, sensing the shift in Ms. Grant's tone, even though the things she said were basically the same as always; but now, now that Ms. Grant knew everything, now that they were working together so closely, the tone of Ms. Grant's constant teasing had gone from acerbic stone-cold ice queen to something else, something strangely warm and gentle. Kara was finally getting to see the parts of Ms. Grant that were kept hidden from the rest of the world while she maintained her public persona as "the most powerful person in National City." The human parts, the caring and motherly and mentor-ish parts.

"Did you really mean all those things you said, Ms. Grant? It wasn't just about marketing your brand?" The blonde girl asked cautiously, looking from her boss to the TV and back.

"I have never been more sincere," Ms. Grant said simply, her expression impassive except for her aqua-colored eyes, which sparkled approvingly. Kara beamed. "All right now, even _I_ tire of watching myself talk eventually. Come Kara, chop chop. Let's get back to work."

…...

During her lunch hour, Kara zipped over to the DEO; not for any emergency, but because Alex had called and asked her if she was free for a lunch date. They strapped into their new tandem flying harness and shot off into the blue, Alex insisting she couldn't tell Kara where they were going until they were in the air, because it was a surprise. Kara had always liked surprises—especially when they came from Alex—so she happily followed her girlfriend's navigational instructions...but it didn't take long for the blonde girl to figure out roughly where they were headed.

"Lex, are we going all the way to Midvale? For lunch?"

"Kind of," Alex smiled. "Anyway, you flew from National City to Midvale in four minutes flat on Christmas Eve, remember? What, have you gotten out of shape or something?" The dark-haired girl teased affectionately.

"Oh, it's like _that,_ huh?" Kara laughed. "You like when I go fast. Just admit it."

"I _love_ when you go fast," Alex corrected, taking her hands—which were completely free thanks to the flying harness keeping her strapped securely to Kara's back—and running them teasingly down the front of her girlfriend's body beneath her. Kara shuddered.

"Shutting up now. Flying fast," the blonde girl groaned, shooting through the air faster than a bullet, all the way back to their childhood hometown.

Kara knew where they were right away when they landed, even though it was just a random bit of grass and trees overlooking a gully, a few miles from Alex's parents' house. She'd know this spot anywhere; she knew it in her sleep. She still dreamed about it sometimes.

"You brought us all the way home to Midvale so we could have lunch on the spot where we met?" Kara asked in confusion, but she still had a smile on her face. There was a picnic basket laid out on a blanket next to the tree where Alex used to study.

"Kinda," Alex grinned shyly. "There _may_ be a surprise waiting, too...it's not in the picnic basket, but no peeking anyway. _No_ x-ray eyes, got it missy?"

"You're so mean," Kara fake-pouted, sticking out her lower lip and looking up at Alex with her biggest Bambi eyes. "You'll tell me you have a surprise for me but you won't even let me look at it?"

"You've managed to keep a secret identity for twelve years. I think you can exercise fifteen minutes' worth of restraint," Alex grinned, sitting down on the picnic blanket and opening the lid of the basket, and holding up a plate of cookies for Kara's inspection.

"Are those your mom's oatmeal cookies?" Kara's face lit up with her happy-food smile, which Alex had always found very endearing.

"Come have one and see," the dark-haired girl teased, grinning happily as she picked up a cookie and held it out to her favorite blonde alien. Kara crossed the short space to the picnic basket so fast, she was a momentary blur, and then she was sitting next to Alex on the blanket, eating the cookie out of her hand in one bite. She made the happy little humming sound that she unconsciously made every time she ate something she really liked. And she really liked Mrs. Grey's oatmeal cookies.

"Yay," Kara beamed brightly when the cookie was gone. "Can I have more?"

"No, they're all for me," Alex said sarcastically, with a big goofy grin.

"You're such a brat," Kara laughed, leaning forward on her hands and knees and kissing Alex a little teasingly before sitting back with another cookie.

The picnic basket was stocked with a wide variety of Kara's favorite foods, and for a few minutes they ate in relative quiet, until Kara sighed and laid back against the blanket, looking up at the clear blue sky above her. "This is the first view I ever had of earth's blue sky...right here," the blonde girl remarked musingly, her eyes following the progress of a flock of seagulls over the rolling hills that lead to the ocean. "It was so intense, so overwhelming, all that blue...but then I saw you looking down at me, and I felt okay. Just looking at you, I felt okay. I still do." Kara turned her gaze from the sky to the dark eyes looking down at her, and smiled, crooking one finger at Alex expectantly. The blonde Kryptonian could hear both of their heartbeats getting faster, the blood rushing through their bodies with arousal.

Alex crawled across the blanket and knelt over Kara's body, leaning down and kissing her slowly and thoroughly, taking her time, holding herself up on her hands and knees so Kara couldn't gain the upper hand and go too fast. Before they got totally lost in each other, there was one more thing Alex had to do.

 _"Lexiiiie,"_ Kara whined when Alex sat up, offering the blonde girl her hand. "Why are you torturing me like this? You know you can't just wind me up and then leave me all hot and bothered. I swear to Rao, I will fly back to National City and leave you here," Kara pouted, crossing her arms over her chest in refusal of taking Alex's hand to stand up. The dark-haired girl smiled indulgently.

"Relax, baby, funtime's just getting started," Alex shook her head, still offering Kara her hand. "There's just one teensy little thing I have to do first...you're gonna like it, I promise. Well, I think so. I hope so." Alex's pale skin blushed pink, and Kara finally gave in and levitated herself into a standing position, more out of curiosity now that anything else.

"My surprise?" Kara asked eagerly.

"Mm-hmm," Alex nodded, leading the blonde girl over to her old studying tree that was shading their picnic blanket...she reached inside a hollow knot in the tree, where the two main branches of the trunk split off, and pulled out a small velvet box. Kara's heart skipped a beat. It was so hard not to use her x-ray eyes to look inside...but she'd promised Alex no peeking, she promised. Alex wanted to surprise her. And Kara wanted to let her.

"I know we're already technically engaged, but...it didn't feel real until I gave you this." Alex opened the box, and there, in front of Kara's disbelieving eyes, was a Kryptonian engagement ring, the same kind they'd been wearing in her fantasy under the black mercy. Kara was stunned, speechless. She felt like she'd just been hit in the face with something heavy, and she was too dazed to even form a reaction.

"This...you...how did you...?" Kara stumbled over her words, unable to commit to a complete sentence. Alex smiled shyly.

"I saw the rings we were wearing in your fantasy...not _me_ , but the other me, I mean...and then when you asked me to marry you that night...it was the first thing I thought of. I wanted you to have the engagement ring of your dreams, literally. I know there's so much you'll be missing out on, from your own planet's traditions...but this is something I can give you." Alex smiled gently as she took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto Kara's finger. "My zrhueiao...now you're mine forever," the dark-haired girl murmured, leaning down and kissing the blonde girl's hand. Kara was still too stunned to speak as she looked down at the ring on her finger, shining silver with an undulating pattern across the top, just like in her fantasy. "And I'm yours," Alex finished, taking a matching ring from her pocket and holding it out flat in the palm of her hand. Kara's eyes blurred with tears.

"Lexie...I don't understand how you did this," Kara shook her head, a few tears slipping down her cheeks as she took the ring from Alex's hand and slid it into her girlfriend's finger, just as Alex had done to her a moment ago. Alex raised her hand to Kara's, and the two rings clicked together with a strong magnetic force. How had Alex known they were magnetized, even if she _had_ seen them in Kara's fantasy? Kara ran her free hand lightly over their interlocking rings, dumbfounded. She knew it was silly, but her first impulse was to run and show Aunt Astra, to see the pride in her aunt's eyes that she had found a true _Kri-zhao_. That part, she knew, really _was_ a fantasy.

"After we got back from fantasyland, I went into the archives and looked through the Kryptonian culture and history database that your mom sent in the pod with you, the one we keep at the DEO for research," Alex explained, shy and proud and relieved all at the same time. "I found the rings from your fantasy in the digital archive...I know what they stand for." They smiled shyly at each other. "Even on Krypton, we would never have been a normal couple, would we?" Alex was referring to the special rings they wore, special even on Krypton—love matches were rare, the vast majority of marriages were arranged to combine noble houses. These rings would show any Kryptonian citizen that theirs was a soul bond, _Kri-zhao_. Alex had even gotten the Kryptonese writing right along the side of the band. Kara just shook her head, speechless. "So, I called in a few favors with the DEO R &D team...and here we are."

"You made me a Kryptonian engagement ring," Kara whispered, her heart almost bursting.

"I did," Alex nodded shyly, wiping a few tears from Kara's cheek with her thumb. "Now you're really stuck with me, huh?"

"Forever and ever," the blonde girl agreed, beaming, as she gently pushed Alex back down on the soft picnic blanket and began peeling off her clothes, worshipping every inch of her fiancee's skin with kisses as she went. Kara's Supergirl bluetooth phone went off in her ear, signaling a call from the DEO; but for the first time ever, she ignored it. She didn't even consciously hear it. Then Alex's work phone rang, then Kara's earring went off again...finally, with a whine of disappointment, they pulled apart, Kara laying down panting on top of Alex's chest while the dark-haired girl reached for her phone impatiently.

"What part of _no phone calls while I'm giving Kara her engagement ring_ was I unclear about?" The young agent growled, her body trembling slightly under Kara's with pent-up desire. Kara rubbed her stomach soothingly, running her thumb over Alex's bellybutton. It was easy for the blonde girl to hear both ends of the conversation, without even extending her super-hearing; she heard Hank telling Alex he was sorry, but that Senator Crane had showed up unannounced and wanted to give them a big chunk of government money to fund the hunt for Non and the Kryptonian terrorist cell. No government official had ever offered to increase the DEO's budget before, and considering the level of threat they were facing—a possible extinction-level event—they just couldn't afford to blow off the senator, and the senator wanted to see Supergirl. Immediately.

Alex promised Hank they'd be there in five minutes, hanging up with a groan of frustration. "I'm going to spend the entire rest of the day thinking about taking off your underwear with my teeth. Just so you know," the dark-haired girl sighed, pouting.

"I'm gonna flip you over and go down on you on the ceiling tonight until you black out. Just so _you_ know," Kara replied, giving Alex one more long, slow kiss, before pulling herself away regretfully and zooming back into her clothes in the same amount of time it took Alex just to reach for her shirt.

…...

"Supergirl, it's so nice to see you again," Senator Crane said sincerely when Kara and Alex walked in. The blonde girl raised her eyebrows in surprise. Apparently saving the congresswoman's life really _had_ changed her position on the alien rights issue, after all.

"It's nice to see you too, Senator," Kara said with a cautious smile. "My super-hearing hasn't gone on the fritz, right? You really just said you want to help increase the DEO's federal budget?"

"Indeed." The senator nodded respectfully. "I misjudged you, Supergirl, and I'm not too proud to admit it. Our goals are the same. If I can use my political position to help you secure the resources you need to take out what is quite possibly the most dangerous terrorist cell on earth...well, then, I can sleep a little better at night."

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt," Agent Vasquez interjected, standing at her communications post in front of an array of screens. "But we're picking up a distress call from a skyscraper fire downtown. There's a firefighter trapped on the roof."

"Supergirl, can you get there in time?" Senator Crane asked as she turned away from the screens to look back at the blonde caped crusader; but she was already gone.

"Yes," Alex smiled smugly. "She can."

…...

The fire on the skyscraper roof had been mostly put out by the time Kara got there; but there was a firefighter trapped under a heavy steel construction beam, and even with the combined strength of the entire rest of the squadron, they couldn't lift it off him. "Supergirl! Over here!" One of them yelled when she landed, and she immediately zipped over to the trapped man's side.

"You're gonna be okay," she said to him steadily as she lifted the impossibly heavy beam off the man's legs, and two other firefighters pulled him out. As soon as the man was free, she put the beam down and used her freeze-breath to put out the rest of the fire. Everyone on the roof cheered, and Kara smiled bashfully the way she always did in such moments. Because the truth was, she was never really sure how much she deserved it. She did good things, of _course_ ; but she still believed in her heart that most people, if given the same powers she had been given, would do the same. She still believed most people were good. So why should she get so much special recognition, just for doing what anyone else would do in the same situation? The fact was that Kara was the truest kind of humble that existed: she didn't even realize she _was_ humble.

She gave the firefighters a sunny smile and a wave, and turned to walk away to the edge of the roof, to jump back into the sky. Hidden under some rubble that she stepped over, was a glowing red chunk of gemstone. As Kara walked past it, a stabbing pain ripped through her head, and she gasped, pressing one hand hard against her temple. She wobbled for a moment; but it was only a moment, then she shook her head and continued on her way, unaware of the glowing-neon veins of red rippling through her face, the same as the veins of bright green liquid Kryptonite that she'd seen running through her aunt's skin when General Lane was torturing her. The sharp pain in her head didn't last long, but it left behind a dull, throbbing ache behind her eyes and a hot, tight feeling in the center of her chest. Brushing it all impatiently aside, she shot off into the sky to get back to CatCo before her lunch break was over.

…...

When she got home that night, Kara found Alex waiting for her at the dining room table with a glass of red wine; there was a feast of Thai takeout on the table from Kara's favorite restaurant, candles lit, rose petals all over the freaking table. "Oh, Rao," the blonde girl groaned, rolling her eyes as she tossed her keys into the dish by the door. "Can we not, Alex? I'm not up for any more fancy romantic shit tonight." Alex's smile faded instantly.

"Okay..." the dark-haired girl agreed uncertainly, trying to keep the surprise and hurt out of her voice. Kara _never_ wasn't up for the fancy romantic stuff. Especially with a brand-new engagement ring on her finger, the young DEO agent had assumed. But if she wasn't then she wasn't. Alex didn't want to feel like she was forcing it. Tonight was supposed to be special, Alex had it all planned out...but if Kara was in a bad mood, she could save it for another day. They'd already had one perfect moment today, no need to get greedy. "So...do you just wanna eat in the living room and watch some TV? It's fine, babe. It's okay to be cranky once in a while."

"I didn't say I was cranky," Kara huffed, putting one hand on her hip. She certainly _looked_ cranky. She used her free hand to rub her temple again; it was still throbbing dully.

"Did you hit your head, bluebird? Does it hurt?" Alex asked gently, standing from the table and crossing the room to Kara's side, reaching out with gentle hands to touch the girl she loved; but Kara flinched away.

"I _didn't_ hit my head, I'm _not_ cranky, I'm just not in the mood, Alex! Jesus!" Kara snapped. Alex took her hand back, still staring at Kara with concern and confusion mixed together in her dark eyes.

"Sorry," Alex murmured, at a total loss, unsure of what she was even apologizing for. She grabbed a container of fried rice off the table and walked away, into the bedroom. She didn't know what was left to do at this point other than give Kara space. She wasn't used to being out of sync with Kara, especially on a day that had started out so epically romantic. But she tried not to take it personally. Maybe she'd had a bad afternoon at work.

After a few minutes, Kara walked into the bedroom—strutted, more like—and leaned against the doorframe, playing with a lock of her long blonde hair. Alex looked up and silently took in the blonde girl's form in the doorway; there was something off, but Alex couldn't express what it was. The way Kara was looking at her...like she was a piece of meat, and nothing more.

"I believe I was promised some help getting undressed tonight?" The blonde alien girl asked as she stalked slowly into the room, like a tiger about to pounce. Her tone was strangely cold; the usual feelings of emotional intimacy that Alex always felt in Kara's presence was gone. It was like she was just saying lines from a play. Alex felt her worry increase. "Or maybe we should skip straight ahead to the part where I fuck you until you pass out? Your call."

"Kara, please tell me what's wrong," Alex said gently, getting up and going to her fiancee's side, reaching out a hand to touch her hair. Kara flinched away and rolled her eyes.

"Who said anything was wrong? I feel great. Never better. Now shut up and take your clothes off before I have to get rough." Kara shoved Alex down on the bed; not so hard as to really hurt her, but hard enough to make the bedframe scrape a couple of inches across the floor. Kara had never shoved Alex like that.

"Kara! Take it easy, Jesus!" Alex exclaimed, rubbing the back of her head where it had hit the wooden headboard.

"Well pardon me for daring to have a sex drive," Kara rolled her eyes, not expressing an ounce of concern over the fact that she'd just pushed Alex hard enough to hit her head. "Do you know how much I have to hold back when I'm fucking you, just so I don't tear your delicate little human body in half? I _never_ get to do it how I wanna do it. Does that seem fair to you, hmm Lexie?" Kara folded her arms across her chest and cocked her head to one side expectantly. There was something about the way Kara said her name that send a jolt of dread and worry through the pit of her stomach. Kara was the only one, the _only one_ who had ever called her Lexie...and she always, always said it with love, like a prayer. Now it sounded like a taunt. And the way she was talking about their sex life...it was so crude and emotionless. There was _something_ wrong with Kara, Alex just knew it.

"I...just remembered, I have samples that need to be tested tonight in my lab, or else they'll lose their molecular integrity. I'd better go back into the DEO before it't too late." Alex scrambled off the bed, trying to keep her face impassive.

"Whatever," Kara sighed like a bratty teenager, turning to walk back to the kitchen and pig out more. But the anger she felt at Alex rejecting her advances flared up intensely inside her; the hot, tight feeling in her chest made her want to scream and punch things, and as the furious feelings welled up inside her, the bright red chemical glow under her skin lit up her face like a demented Christmas tree. Her back was to Alex, so the dark-haired girl didn't see this; but she _did_ see Kara bend over with a sharp yelp of pain, one hand pressing against the side of her head, just like when she first came home. _Something_ was wrong with Kara, and Alex was worried. She crossed the room and put one hand protectively on the blonde girl's back.

"Honey, can't you please tell me what's wrong? I can see you're in pain," Alex hummed gently. "If you didn't get hurt, maybe you're sick? But you can't get sick unless you blew your powers; you still have your powers, right? Maybe you should come in to the DEO with me and get some scans, just to be safe..."

"Seriously, could you _be_ a bigger buzzkill?" Kara snapped, jerking back from Alex's loving touch. "Go find someone else to work out your mommy issues on. I'm sick of playing your little orphan Annie." The hurt expression on Alex's face just made the irrational fury inside Kara intensify, and suddenly the blonde girl couldn't sit still; she felt antsy and stir-crazy, and without a word of explanation, she zipped out of her human clothes and out the window, streaking off into the night to blow off steam. Alex rubbed the tears from her eyes, trying to think rationally. So Kara was having a bad day. That wasn't against the law. Maybe...maybe seeing the Kryptonian engagement rings had triggered a bout of PTSD flashbacks of her dead planet; that had happened before. She'd never reacted to it like _this_ , but that didn't automatically mean there was anything bigger going on. Kara had lost her entire world; she had a right to some bitterness. Maybe it was healthy if she was finally letting it out a little. With a dejected sigh, Alex turned off the light and crawled under the covers, hiding her head under a pillow. It was a long time before she fell asleep; but Kara still hadn't come back.

…...

The blonde girl did come back eventually, though; when the alarm went off in the morning, Kara reached out and hit it a little too hard, smashing it to bits. Alex sat up rubbing her eyes, drowsily taking in the smashed alarm as Kara walked away to the bathroom without even saying good morning. Cautiously, the dark-haired girl got up and followed after her; Kara was calmly brushing her teeth and looking through her clothes, in a bored, detached kind of way.

"Why do all my clothes suck?" She sighed to herself, still acting like she didn't see or hear Alex standing behind her. Not waiting for an answer, she picked out one of the few outfits she never wore, a very sexy sweater dress that clung to her curves in all the right places. She looked drop-dead-gorgeous in it, but she was normally too shy to wear it. Kara had never been comfortable being the center of attention.

But not today, it seemed. She finished brushing her teeth and slipped into the sexy dress, spent a moment perfecting her eye makeup, and breezed through the kitchen while Alex was drinking her coffee. "Bye Lex," she purred, tilting Alex's face up to hers with one hand and kissing her very, very thoroughly, licking her teeth teasingly before she let go. "Go kick some alien ass, babe. See you later." Kara gave her fiancee a saucy little wink, and waltzed out the door without a backwards glance. Alex was at a complete loss. But at least Kara didn't seem to be in pain anymore like she had last night. With a dejected sigh, Alex got up and dumped the rest of her coffee down the drain, and went to get dressed for work.

It wasn't long before Alex saw Kara again—Hank called in their resident superhero just a few hours later, when a viciously strong and ruthless alien called a K'hund had been caught on camera robbing an armored truck, matching the description of four similar incidents within the last two weeks. Hank had assembled both alpha and beta squads to mobilize on this, in addition to Supergirl; he wasn't taking any chances with this one. This alien had the power to cause a national panic, should the whim strike him. As he finished briefing the group on the creature's physiology and defenses, he noticed that Kara seemed not to be paying attention in the slightest. She had her boots propped up on the table, examining her manicure with a bored expression at the back of the group as Hank spoke.

"I'm sorry, Supergirl, am I boring you?" Hank asked loudly, interrupting the briefing.

"Kind of, yeah," Kara said indifferently, spinning herself around on the swivel chair like a bored kid. "Can we just skip ahead to the part where I beat the shit out of this giant fuckwad so we can all move on with our lives?" She was still looking indifferently at her fingernails. Hank looked at Alex; and without her having to say anything, he could see all the worry in her mind, everything strange that had happened with Kara since the previous day. When he got to the sex part, he winced and closed his eyes, immediately shutting down the telepathic connection with his top agent.

"Okay, I think we've all heard enough. Move out, soldiers." The entire field team rose as one and marched off to the munitions room, while Hank looked at Kara. She smirked unrepentantly.

"If you don't like what you see, maybe you shouldn't be poking around inside other people's minds like a peeping tom," The blonde girl said casually, seeming completely unembarrassed. Hank wanted to sit her down and have a long talk to figure out what was going on with the usually sweet-tempered young superhero; but now was not the time. Not with the field team already mobilizing and a dangerous predator on the loose.

"You understand the mission parameters, Supergirl?" He asked coolly.

"Find the bad guy and punch him real hard? Yeah, I think I can remember that for, what, at least ten or fifteen minutes," Kara said sarcastically. J'onn's worry only grew, and he was determined to have that talk with Kara the moment she got back. "Go," he nodded with a jerk of his head. Kara lifted off the ground and shot out of the DEO like a bullet.

As usual, she got to the crime scene before the DEO field team; it wasn't hard to pull the giant, intergalactic dumb jock off the armored car and throw him down the dark alleyway beside the bank, where he crashed hard into a large metal dumpster. Kara snickered. Finally, she was having some fun. When the K'hund got to his feet, he took in the sigil blazed across her chest; and his one organic eye (the one that wasn't glowing robotic red) narrowed viciously. "Your mother"—he snarled, but Kara cut him off before he could say any more.

"Sentenced you to Fort Rozz, ruined your life, blah blah blah," Kara sighed, cocking her head to one side with a bored expression. "I've heard it all before." With a roar, the huge beast lunged at her; and she easily side-stepped him, using his own weight against him as she took his momentum and added it to her own, throwing him into the side of the brick alley so hard he made a hole in one wall. She just laughed as he picked himself up from the wreckage. She spent a few minutes pounding the shit out of him, and it really helped blow off some of the inexplicable fury she felt swirling madly inside her like hot molten lava. But eventually, her super-hearing detected the sound of the DEO humvees in the distance; they'd be here soon, and Kara didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of all the paperwork involved with an actual bust. So, she picked the big lunk up one last time, and threw him down on the street.

"I could turn your face into raw meat, you big dumb space gorilla," the blonde girl said coolly, like it was just an observation, not even a threat. "But the truth is? You're just not worth my time. So go." The K'hund just stared at her uncomprehendingly. "Hurry hurry, before I change my mind," she sang in a cruel, teasing voice. The beast didn't need any more convincing, jumping to his enormous feet and taking off like a shot. Kara rolled her eyes, and started walking towards where she could hear the DEO vehicles screeching to a stop. Hank and Alex lead the charge with their guns drawn.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Alex asked, running protectively to Kara's side.

"I'm fine," Kara shrugged indifferently. "He got away." She kept walking past them as if everything were completely normal.

"He _got away?"_ Hank repeated stonily. Kara turned and looked at him coolly, arms crossed, head cocked, like a bratty teenager.

"Yeah," she shrugged, looking at him like he was very slow.

"All right, that's it. The three of _us,"_ he looked meaningfully between the two young women he thought of as his own daughters, "are going to have a little talk. _Now."_ He looked up at his troops and ordered them back to HQ to debrief with the senator; he and Agent Grey would stay behind with Supergirl to sweep the scene for forensic evidence. "Now," Hank said as the other agents had all driven off, leaving him alone with Kara and Alex. "Do you mind telling me what the _hell_ is going on in your head right now, Danvers?"

"My name is not _Danvers,"_ the blonde girl spat at him venomously. "It's _Kara Zor-El_. I am heir to the great house of El, the last of my bloodline. Just because a couple of science geek do-gooders decided to dress me up like a human kid and send me off to their crappy town's school, doesn't make them my family. We _don't_ share blood. And if you don't like how I fight aliens, why don't you just go do it yourself? You're just as capable as I am." Kara glared daggers at the DEO chief, her eyes flashing in challenge.

"Kara," Alex said gently, still reeling from the sting of hearing Kara say the Danvers' weren't her family. They _were_ her family. Kara loved them; Alex knew she did. "You know Hank can't risk that. It's too dangerous..."

"And it's not dangerous for me?" Kara demanded, throwing her arms wide in exasperation. "I'm so fucking tired of this hypocrisy." She stared at him defiantly. He looked back at her unflinchingly, but Alex could see the pain and regret in his eyes.

"I can't be the head of the DEO if I'm an alien," he said calmly.

"Bullshit," Kara snarled; and her face began to glow again, the neon veins of red lighting up under her skin. She gritted her teeth with an involuntary hiss of pain, clapping a hand to the side of her head again, the same spot Alex had noticed her rubbing last night.

"Baby, what's hurting you?" Alex asked desperately, gravitating without conscious thought to Kara's side and reaching out to comfort her.

"I said I was fine!" Kara snapped, pushing Alex back so hard, the dark-haired girl smashed into the brick wall behind her. She wasn't hurt, but she got the wind knocked out of her pretty good, and she doubled over as her body screamed for air. Instead of seeing if Alex was okay, Kara punched right through the wall in frustration, then took off into the sky like a bullet. Hank helped Alex stand up straight and waited patiently while she regained her breath, one of his large hands steading her.

"You saw...what I saw?" Alex panted, her eyes frightened but determined.

"I saw," Hank nodded. "We need to figure out what happened that turned our resident superhero into a loose cannon. Not to mention, a living glowstick," he added, referring to the neon glow they'd just seen lighting up her face when she got angry.

"Let's go," Alex nodded.

"Whoa, whoa." Hank put a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean you, Alex. You're too close to this. _I'll_ go get started with the bioanalytics team, you track down that damn K'hund and get him bagged and tagged."

"But sir," Alex protested; but Hank cut her off before she could even get out a sentence.

"That's my final word, Agent Grey. _Go_. Get that maniac off the streets. I promise you, we'll put every resource at our disposal toward finding out what happened to Kara, and how to fix it."

…...

Too stir-crazy to go home and too bored to just fly around aimlessly, Kara decided she might as well go back to work at CatCo for the rest of the day. She changed out of her uniform into another brutally hot business chic outfit; and with a self-satisfied little smirk, she let herself in through Ms. Grant's personal elevator. When the doors opened onto the executive floor and Kara walked out, Winn was the first one to greet her. Of course. The boy was such a puppy, it was pathetic.

"Okay, you're impervious to bullets, and I am _literally_ afraid for your safety right now," the IT director said in a low, urgent voice to his best friend. She chuckled.

"You know that I am never, _ever_ going to fuck you, right? You are aware of that?" She said it so casually, for a moment Winn was completely unable to process her statement.

"W...what?" he asked in total bewilderment. But before Kara had a chance to taunt him any further, Ms. Grant appeared, glaring at her in a way that required absolutely no explanation.

"Walking to your office from the main elevators takes an additional ninety seconds, which means your latte is ninety seconds colder," Kara said simply, holding out the coffee to her boss. Ms. Grant gave her a measured look, and then, apparently, decided to accept her assistant's logic.

"Alright, let's hustle then. I need you in my office right now, Kara. Chop chop." Ms. Grant turned and walked purposefully back towards her office. Kara rolled her eyes behind her boss's back, in a very nasty way, Winn noticed; but she followed the older woman anyway, not because she was told to, but because she figured she had nothing better to do anyway.

"You do realize," Ms. Grant said as soon as they were alone in her office, "That you haven't sent in a single Supergirl tweet since yesterday? I thought I was very clear when we set out, social media campaigns aren't something you can do on a whim. I gave you your own hashtag, Kara, with the full force of CatCo's media empire behind it. The #AliensArePeople conversation is out there, it's your duty to remain at the center of it. If you're not committed to this project..."

"Yeah, okay, whatever, I get it," Kara waved her off, seating herself on Ms. Grant's comfortable office couch and putting her feet up on the coffee table, as if she didn't have a care in the world. "Write them yourself if you want, I don't care. Write whatever _you_ think Supergirl should say. Not like you trust me to think for myself anyway, right? Otherwise you'd let me have the login to my own damn account." Kara was examining her manicure again. She was bored with the red she'd chosen that morning; now she wanted black.

"Ex _cuse_ me?" Ms. Grant said sharply, her voice as shocked as Winn's had been a minute ago at the inexplicable things coming out of Kara's mouth. For a moment, Ms. Grant just stared at her young protege in shock; then her eyes fell on the glinting silver ring on Kara's left hand. "Oh my goodness, is that an engagement ring? Did Alex propose?! Kara, you could have told me if you needed the night off for _that_ , I'm not _completely_ heartless..."

"Oh yeah? That's news to me," Kara snorted, still deliberately not making eye contact with her boss. "And frankly, _Cat_ , it's none of your business." Ms. Grant sat in stunned silence for a moment, while Kara continued to look bored.

"I think that will be all for today," the older woman said in a calm, measured tone that conveyed intense hostility kept closely in check. "You are dismissed. And Kara? I don't think I'll be needing you to babysit Carter this weekend, after all." She didn't give any reason, and Kara didn't ask for one.

"Whatever," Kara sighed indifferently, getting up from the couch with a lazy stretch, rolling her neck with a satisfying crack. "Your kid is boring anyway." Without a backwards glance, Kara strutted from the office; Cat saw her walk right by Winn's desk without even acknowledging his existence, even though he was clearly trying to talk to her. As soon as Kara was gone, Cat got straight on the phone to Alex. Something was _wrong_ with Kara, something unnatural and maybe even dangerous. Cat Grant was afraid for her city...and she was afraid for her young protege. If Kara did anything rash in this state, she'd never forgive herself for it, Cat knew that. Never.

…...

Ms. Grant didn't reach Alex on her cell, though, because Alex was right smack in the middle of hauling the K'hund back to HQ in enormous heavy handcuffs. "Glad to see you had better luck than Supergirl," Hank nodded approvingly when he saw his top agent, two guards securing the prisoner behind her.

"I've had worse," Alex shrugged distractedly, her mind still on Kara and what was happening to her. The K'hund laughed. Alex and J'onn both turned to look at him quizzically.

"Do not flatter yourself, human. Supergirl let me go. She said I wasn't worth her time." The alien leered, looking pleased with himself.

"Get him out of my face," Alex said in a low, dangerous voice. The alien prisoner was dragged away; but the dark look on Alex's face wasn't going anywhere. "Hank? Tell me you've got something," the young agent begged, turning her attention away from the prisoner and back towards the most pressing matter at hand.

"Nothing yet," Hank shook his head; "but we don't give up that easy around here. We've got the whole bioanalytics team working on this, Alex."

"And now you've got me, too," Alex said; but before she could take a step toward her lab, her phone rang again at her belt. It had rung several times before, but she was too busy securing the prisoner to bother answering. Now, as she picked it up, she saw that it was Ms. Grant, and that she'd already called three times. Oh boy.

"Ms. Grant, what's happening? Is Kara all right?"

"Oh, she's just fine and dandy. For a fourteen year old who just got back from reform school," the older woman said hotly, a mixture of indigence and genuine concern in her voice. "Alex, she's not herself. I'm worried. Something is very wrong."

"I know, I know something's wrong," Alex sighed, pacing around the control room in agitation. "We're trying to figure it out. Kara's been acting horrible since yesterday, and now...well, it seems she let an alien criminal escape without a fight."

 _"What?"_ Ms. Grant gaped.

"It's not really Kara. We both know that," Alex said desperately, her stomach turning inside out to defend the girl she loved, even when she was doing things that were patently indefensible. "She's been brain-washed, or mind-controlled, or something."

"Yes, well, be that as it may, there is still the question of whether she is a threat to National City in this state, whether she's acting of her own free will or not," Ms. Grant pointed out. At the other end of the call, Alex's face flushed pink.

"Let _us_ worry about the security of National City, all right? As far as CatCo is concerned, it's business as usual until you hear otherwise from me. Can you do that, Ms. Grant?"

"Of course I can. Haven't you heard, I'm the most powerful person in National City," the older woman sighed ironically. "I just hope, for all our sakes, that the title remains honorary. I may be able to hold my own with Kara...but I don't know about the rest of the city."

"We'll handle it. I promise. I'll call you when I know more, all right?" Alex sighed anxiously.

"Very well," Ms. Grant agreed, tapping off the call begrudgingly. It was terrible to feel so helpless. Kara... _Supergirl_...just let an alien fugitive go free? And there was _nothing_ to be done about it? "Screw it," the queen of media muttered to herself, dashing off a very short text to Kara's cell: _My office. Immediately. Or you're fired._

…...

Ms. Grant sat at her desk in quiet agitation for several long minutes, unsure whether Kara would respond to her summons. In her current state, maybe the threat of losing her job wouldn't mean anything. But she needn't have worried; a few minutes later, the blonde girl floated down onto the balcony adjoining the older woman's spacious office, her red cape flapping majestically in the breeze behind her, just like always. But the look on her face...that was new.

"What now, _Cat?"_ Kara said sarcastically, when Ms. Grant went out to the balcony to join her. "I thought you said we were done for the day."

"Oh, I just wanted to see if you had Ashton Kutcher and his camera crew hidden under your cape," Ms. Grant replied, matching Kara's airy sarcasm perfectly. "Because there's no way the Supergirl _I_ know would let a dangerous alien criminal go free. So I _assume_ thatI am being punked."

"I wouldn't assume anything from now on," Kara said in a dangerous, low voice, a self-satisfied smirk on her face. "Why don't you just go back to your litterbox, kitty cat? Or somebody might scoop you up and send you to the pound."

"Ex _cuse_ me?" Ms. Grant said defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You branded me in the media as a Girl Scout," Kara said accusingly, leaning back on her elbows against the stone railing of the balcony with a cool, detached look in her clear blue eyes. "Supergirl is brave, kind and strong," the blonde girl recited sarcastically. "Isn't that kind of a stock characterization? Very two-dimensional. Everyone knows real people have a dark side."

"Kara, _what_ is going on, what's happened to upset you so much?" Ms. Grant asked, her protective feelings for her young protege flaring up so strongly, she forgot for a minute that she was talking to someone who could literally melt her face off if the mood struck her. "Of _course_ I know you have a dark side. You saw your entire world die in front of your eyes. But you've never let that darkness define you. That's _not_ what makes you who you are, it's not what makes you Supergirl. Is this some kind of subconscious backlash to your engagement? You and Alex are getting married, so now you're thinking of home, your family, all the marriage rituals from your planet you'll never get to have? Don't they have a psych team down in that secret underground alien lab that I officially know nothing about? I'd be happy to refer you to my psychiatrist if they can figure out the appropriate Kryptonian dosage of Lexipro."

"Oh, so now you want to drug me to keep me on your leash, Mistress Kitty?" the blonde girl rolled her eyes.

 _"Kara!"_ Ms. Grant reprimanded sharply, shocked at the words coming out of her assistant's mouth.

"Well I'm sick of it. And you know what else I'm sick of?" She turned away from her boss, leaning on the balcony railing and staring out over the city skyline. "Enabling _all_ of _you_ in your victimhood. 'Oh no, my building's on fire, la la la. No problem, I'll just sit back and wait for Supergirl to come rescue me.' Well get used to flames, people, because I _quit_." Her face began to glow red again; but Cat couldn't see it, because Kara's back was to her. But she _did_ see the younger girl grab the side of her head with a low gasp of pain.

"Kara. Sweetheart. I was starting to think you were having some kind of mental breakdown...it does happen to the best of us...but that's not it, is it? I'm not blind, I can see you're in pain. _Something_ is hurting you. Now I'm no expert in extraterrestrial neuroanatomy—well, I'm no expert in human neuroanatomy, for that matter—but we both know someone who is. I'm calling Alex." Cat took out her phone, preparing to hit the redial button.

"Of course that's your answer, isn't it?" Kara sighed, turning back to her boss with a shake of her head. Her face wasn't glowing red anymore. "Gee, the girl who caters to my every selfish whim by day and saves my yoga-toned ass from messy, bloody death by night has become an inconvenience to me? Ship her off to someone who gives a shit."

"Kara, stop it," Ms. Grant said sharply.

"Why should I? I learned from the best," Kara smirked, a cruel, taunting smirk, as she folded her arms across her chest. "Cat Grant. You are, by far, the most arrogant, mean-spirited, self-serving person I have ever known." They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"You listen to me, _Supergirl,_ " the older woman said in a low, dangerous voice. "I made you. And you are _not_ going to let me down."

"Or what?" Kara taunted, an amused smirk on her face.

"Don't test me, Kara," Ms. Grant said quietly, a note of pleading in her voice. "It won't end well."

"You got that part right," Kara laughed nastily. "You _are_ the most powerful person in National City, right? At least that's what I hear on TV." The blonde girl stared at her boss in silence for a moment, a cruel smile emerging at the corner of her mouth. For the first time, Cat Grant began to feel genuinely afraid. "Do you want to see what real power looks like?" Kara whispered, putting her face right up close to Cat's. Then, without warning, Kara picked up her boss and threw her over the ledge of the 40th floor balcony. Impassively, she watched the woman shrieking as she fell through the air for a good while; then, at the last minute, Kara swooped down and caught her before she could splatter on the pavement. It was such a close call, many alarmed pedestrians had stopped on the street, whispering and taking shocked photos. Kara dumped her boss unceremoniously on the sidewalk.

"True power," the blonde girl whispered with her cape billowing behind her, "is deciding who will live and who will die. Oh...and don't ever call me again." With that, Supergirl streaked off into the air, leaving her boss panting on the pavement, shaking and grateful to be alive.

…...

"There! The roof fire!" Alex exclaimed, pointing; and Vasquez paused the footage. "Right there, that's a weird thermodynamic signature...is that...Kryptonite?" She squinted and cocked her head to one side, trying to make the pieces fit together.

"Almost," Hank said, studying it alongside her. "This is synthetic. Someone _made_ it. But they didn't get it quite right."

"Three guesses who would fund a project to make synthetic Kryptonite," Alex snarled angrily. "Son of a bitch probably used our tax dollars to make it. I swear to God, if I _ever_ see that son of a bitch again..."

"Alex, we don't know that General Lane is behind this," Hank cut her off, laying a steadying hand on her back. "And frankly right now that's not what's most important. What's most important is finding a cure. I'm going to send these scans down to the med bay, okay? And then Dr. Schwartzman and her team will find an antidote, and Kara will be okay."

Alex just shook her head, pacing around the room like a caged animal, tears burning her eyes. She kicked a storage locker hard. "I just hope she doesn't remember," she mumbled, wiping her eyes with a sharp sniff. "Any of it. If she wakes up and she remembers...it's gonna kill her."

"One step at a time, soldier." Hank squeezed her shoulder. "We're going to find Kara, and we're going to help her."

"Yeah," Alex whispered; but the tears were starting to slide down her face, and Hank pulled her into a tight hug. Alex accepted the comfort, but only for a moment; she couldn't let herself fall apart right now, she had to be strong. She could cry later, when Kara was safe.

"Do you want to go down to the med lab and help Dr. Schwartzman crack this thing?" Hank asked gently when Alex pulled away.

"Yeah," she nodded, her voice slightly more steady now as she wiped the last of her tears away. That was when her phone rang, and she picked it up right away when she saw that it was Winn. "Hey, did something happen? Have you seen Kara?" She asked without preamble.

"Uh...yeah," Winn said. His voice sounded odd, Alex didn't know what to make of it. "She...she just threw Ms. Grant off the balcony."

 _"What?!"_ Alex gaped, wide-eyed.

"It's okay, she's alive and everything," Winn interjected hastily. "Ms. Grant, I mean. Not that—I didn't mean—Kara's alive too, and all. Everybody's alive," the young tech nerd rambled nervously, scared at seeing his best friend in this state, with no idea how to help her. "She threw Ms. Grant off the balcony, but then she caught her. Then she flew off. I don't know where she went, Alex."

"It's okay, Winn. We're going to find her," Alex said with conviction, looking up at Hank, who nodded. "We are going to find her and we are going to cure her."

"Cure her?" Winn sounded confused.

"She's been poisoned, Winn. She's not acting under her own power. This isn't Kara, it's some messed up chemical in her brain. It's not her fault, she can't control it," Alex explained, pacing again.

"Well I hope you find it fast...because Ms. Grant says she's going on the air to publicly denounce Supergirl as a menace to society."

 _...To Be Continued!_


	15. Falling From Grace Part 2

Hi Supergang!

I have very little to say today in terms of author's notes, so just enjoy. Thanks as always for your feedback, it always makes me smile! There's also a short author's note at the end, because if I put it here it would be a spoiler for the end of the chapter. Have fun and keep the feedback coming!

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 15: Falling From Grace Part 2**

…...

Ms. Grant was sitting behind her desk, eyes closed as her makeup artist dusted her face with powder and put some finishing touches on her eye makeup. The tripod had already been set up and the camera was mounted and pointing at her, just waiting to be turned on. That was when Winn, James and Lucy all rushed into her office at once, in a frantic and agitated state.

"Ms. Grant, please, you can't do this," Winn begged, his eyes pleading as he stared at her.

"Supergirl, she isn't"—Lucy started to say, but Ms. Grant cut her off.

"Stop. Everyone out, take five," she said sharply, waving off her hair and makeup artists as well as her camera crew. Winn took a hesitant step backwards. _"Not_ you three," The blonde woman sighed impatiently, beckoning them closer to her desk as the rest of the people in the room made a hasty and respectful exit. "All right, let's get one thing straight," she said as she folded her hands neatly on her desk, staring up at the three of them sardonically. "Just because you know that _I_ know about Kara, and just because I know that _you_ know about Kara, does not make me part of your little...Scooby gang," she waved her hand in the air impatiently in front of her. "I'm the CEO of the biggest media conglomerate in National City, for God's sake. You'll need to show a little more discretion. Mr. Schott?"

"Yes. Of course. I'm sorry," Winn nodded, shifting from one foot to the other in agitation.

"All right then. Now that we are alone, please speak freely. What exactly can't I do?" Cat Grant sat back in her chair and folded her arms, looking up at him expectantly.

"You can't go on the air and tell the whole city that Supergirl is a menace," Lucy explained urgently, with the same pleading look in her bright blue eyes that Winn had. "She's been poisoned, Alex and her team just discovered the source. Someone _made_ it, someone who wanted Kara dead. But instead of killing her, it's altered her brain chemistry somehow. She's not acting under her own power, Ms. Grant, this _isn't_ Kara. Alex's team will find a cure for her and she'll be fine, she'll be herself again."

"Be that as it may, Ms. Lane, the fact remains that _right now_ Supergirl is a danger to anyone she comes into contact with," Ms. Grant replied coolly, her icy exterior firmly in place as the queen of all media. "She threw me off a 40th-story balcony and then caught me on a whim. Can you _guarantee_ me she won't hurt anyone?" The three young CatCo employees all looked at each other with the same sick, helpless feeling.

"Ms. Grant, helping people is _everything_ to Kara," James pleaded. "She is _going_ to wake up from this, and she'll be Supergirl again. Soon. If you go on TV and tell the public she's a villain, they'll never trust her again."

"And if she melts a family driving home from church in their minivan, what then?" Ms. Grant responded, her voice as sharp and emotionless as her employees had ever seen her. "She'll wake up and be received by the public with open arms?" They all fell silent again, desperation hanging thick in the air. Ms. Grant sighed and clasped her hands.

"Listen to me, all three of you. I do not take this responsibility lightly. If I can tell the public that the Supergirl they're seeing today isn't really our Supergirl, maybe it _will_ help restore their trust once she's come back to herself. I will make sure to include this information in my broadcast. But as the CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media, it is _my_ duty to warn the public of imminent threat." She took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "I'm doing this for Kara too, you know," she added, looking up at them with a much softer expression, suddenly. "If she wakes up and finds out she killed someone...she will _never_ forgive herself. This is what she would want me to do; she would want people to be safe."

Nobody else spoke, because they all knew it was true. One of the cameramen knocked respectfully on the glass door, clearly eager to return to his post and begin filming. Ms. Grant raised an eyebrow at her three employees, who filed out dejectedly. But they stayed just outside the glass door, waiting to watch Ms. Grant's public broadcast. The cameraman did a three-second countdown on his fingers; then Cat Grant looked straight into the camera, folded her arms calmly across her desk, and began to speak.

"People of National City. This is Cat Grant. It is with a heavy heart that I come to you today with this emergency broadcast. Right now, a sinister threat hangs over our city, every single one of us. And this time we can't call on our beloved Supergirl, the pride of National City; because this time, Supergirl _is_ the threat. She has been poisoned with some kind of biological weapon that has altered her brain chemistry, making her hostile and volatile. We can only pray that this...this condition is not permanent, and our Supergirl will come back to us, _soon_. But make no mistake. Right now the young woman we have come to know is gone, replaced by a wolf in sheep's clothing. If you see her on the street, do _not_ approach her. Don't even make eye contact. Stay as far away from Supergirl as you possibly can. Right now, she should be considered as dangerous as any alien terrorist this planet has seen." Cat Grant looked away from the camera, her eyes flickering slightly. "All right, that's enough," she said sharply to her tech crew, still not looking back at the camera. She discreetly pressed the edge of one finger to the corner of her eye, wiping away a tear before it could fall. "Run it on a loop."

…...

Alex hurriedly let herself into her apartment, intent on retrieving the item she'd been sent for: Kara's hairbrush. A single strand of her blonde hair would provide the DEO with all the fresh DNA they needed to test the effects—and, ultimately, the antidote—of the Red Kryptonite on Kara's cells. The dark-haired girl was completely unprepared to find her fiancee sitting silently on the living room couch, feet up on the coffee table, waiting for her. She wasn't wearing her red and blue Supergirl uniform; instead, she was wearing a tight, all-black ensemble that resembled Alex's DEO uniform, but with a small version of her house sigil pressed into the fabric over her chest.

"Kara! Thank God you're okay," Alex sighed, the relief clear in her voice even though her heart was still hammering a mile a minute. "Listen to me, please baby. You've been poisoned. It's a synthetic form of Kryptonite, it's altered your brain chemistry. That's why you're not feeling like yourself. But it's all right, the DEO is working on an antidote. You'll be fine, you'll be you again. Just come with me, right now, please Kara. Please." Alex took a few steps closer, holding out her hand beseechingly. Kara just snickered and rolled her eyes.

"Hmmm...nope, thanks. I'm good." Kara leaned back against the couch cushions in apparent relaxation, stretching out her arms over the back of the cushions.

"Then why are you just sitting here waiting for me?" Alex asked in genuine confusion. She'd really believed that if Kara understood what was happening...it would be enough to make her fight. Make her regain enough control that they could go back to the DEO without the need for Kryptonite handcuffs.

"Just confirming what I already knew," the blonde girl shrugged lazily; but the look she gave Alex was dagger-sharp with accusation. "The only part of me you actually give a shit about is the superhero part. 'Quick, emergency, Kara's not a superhero anymore. Better fix that asap, before I lose all interest.' Right Lex?" Kara raised one eyebrow nastily.

"No!" Alex gasped in reply, her eyes wide and horrified, forgetting momentarily that this wasn't really her Kara. "Kara, that's not it at all! You've been poisoned, you're not thinking clearly..."

"Really? You sure about that?" Kara stood up and started pacing around the couch, her blue eyes cold as they stared into Alex's, like a stranger. "'Cause, I gotta tell you, I'm feeling pretty clear. I see _everything_ clearly now. Like you, Alex. Pretending like you love me so much, all these years...but what you _really_ love is how special it makes _you_ feel, being the one girl on earth with an all-access pass to the freakshow."

"That is _not_ true," Alex said, her voice quiet but vibrating with heartache.

"Isn't it?" Kara sneered, seeming to draw more energy from Alex's pained expression. "The truth is, you just need _me_ to be a superhero so _you_ can be _Mrs._ Superhero. If we'd met at Starbucks instead of by my alien space ship crashing at your feet, you never even would've noticed I was alive."

"No!" Alex yelled, her dark eyes shining with tears that she tried not to let fall. _This isn't Kara, this isn't Kara,_ she repeated to herself over and over. But she still knew Kara was in there; and Alex had to have hope, she _had_ to, that she could still reach her. "I do _not_ love you because of what you are, Kara. I love you because of _who_ you are. Your kindness, your compassion, your inner strength. All the love in your heart. _That's_ why I'm marrying you. Not because you're Supergirl," Alex shook her head fiercely. Kara smirked nastily, twirling her engagement ring around her finger.

"Actually...about that..." the blonde girl said musingly, slipping off her ring and examining it impassively. "I changed my mind." Then she flicked the ring across the room, where it shot like a bullet through the microwave, which exploded into a small but very real ball of flames.

 _"Kara!"_ Alex yelled, her voice half reproving and half shocked. She ran to get the fire extinguisher, hastily putting out the flames licking up their kitchen cabinets. The blonde girl just laughed, a cold, sadistic laugh. Alex looked back at her with tears swimming in her dark eyes; one spilled over and slid down her cheek. She was so scared that her bluebird was never coming back.

"Aww, is wittle wexie gonna cwy?" The blonde alien girl taunted cruelly, with an exaggerated, mocking baby voice. Alex just stared down at her shoes, holding herself together with every ounce of her strength. She was so scared that the girl she loved was gone forever; she couldn't stop the hammering of her heart, her shaking hands that she clenched into fists. She could feel the tears sliding unwillingly down her face...but she refused to give into it. She just kept staring at her shoes. She couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. That's when her DEO phone went off.

Before Alex even had time to form a reaction, Kara shot out the living room window like a bullet, off into the night. Alex covered her face with her hand and let out one terrified, heartbroken sob; then she forced herself to breathe normally as she flipped the phone open.

"What did you find?" the young agent demanded as she held the phone to her ear, roughly wiping the tear tracks from her face with her free hand.

"Alex, you'd better get back here quick," Hank's reassuringly deep voice rumbled. "The med team came up with an antidote. They're retrofitting a kryptonite blaster gun with it now."

…...

While Alex was rushing back to the DEO, Kara was sitting lazily on a bar stool, looking around at all the sad saps drowning their pathetic human troubles in alcohol. There _was_ alcohol on Krypton, too; she remembered the sweet, burning taste, from the few times a year when her mother would give her a sip of something from the sacred temple chalice on sun festival days. It always made her feel warm inside, like the sun itself; the crap on this planet just made her feel like she was drinking nail polish remover. And it didn't light up her insides with anything.

With an obnoxiously adolescent sigh of boredom, Kara picked up the bowl of peanuts sitting in front of her on the bar, and slowly tipped it over, spilling it across the countertop. She could hear the confused, doubtful murmurs in the crowd around her. _Isn't that Supergirl? No, it can't be...I'm not sure...is something wrong with her? Should we ask her if she's all right?I don't know..._

Kara gave a small, cruel snort of laughter, like the football goons bullying their gay classmate who she'd rescued just that morning. The idea that these pions thought _they_ could help _her_. Lazily, she set her sights on one of the peanuts sitting on the counter in front of her, and flicked it across the bar, shattering a very expensive bottle of top-shelf tequila. The nervous patrons began jumping from their seats and fleeing, which just made Kara laugh with a cruel kind of satisfaction. The hot, tight feeling in her chest blazed up more intensely than ever. At first it had made her feel sick to her stomach, but now she was starting to like it, even embrace it. She wanted to feed it until it blazed up and consumed her completely.

She kept on flicking peanuts across the bar, smashing one expensive bottle after another; but as the frightened patrons around her scattered and ran into the street, she lost interest pretty quickly. It was no fun without an audience. Then her attention was caught by a familiar face on the TV screen behind the bar: Cat Grant. Calmly sitting safe behind her desk, telling the whole world that Supergirl was a menace to society. The flames of fury blazed up inside her again, and she shot the last peanut into the TV screen, where it exploded in electrical sparks, just as her kitchen microwave had when she'd flicked her engagement ring into it. But this time, there was no one there to grab a fire extinguisher. With all the hard alcohol dripping over the countertops, the flames quickly licked across the bar, and Kara walked out unconcerned, enjoying the warm glow of the blaze at her back as she left the bar, her face lighting up to match the raging fire behind her.

…...

Meanwhile, as Alex was running into the DEO, she saw that the entire field team was suiting up in Kryptonite-covered vests, grabbing Kryptonite dart guns and Kryptonite-lined riot gear. All meant to be used on Kara. For a second Alex thought she was going to throw up, but she gritted her teeth and forced it back down again. She did _not_ have time to fall apart right now.

"Hank, what the hell is all this? I thought you said we have the antidote!" the young agent demanded, sweeping her hair back impatiently from her face and looking around at her fellow soldiers, who all looked like they were preparing for war.

"Alex, if we had time, we'd manufacture a thousand dart guns with the antidote; but we _don't_ have time. We have to treat this the same as any other mission: capture and contain the alien threat. If you get to her first, we may get lucky and not have to use any of this stuff at all. But we can't count on that." Hank put his large hand on Alex's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Her eyes were blazing with equal parts terror and determination. "We've never had to kill a Kryptonian fugitive before, you know that. We bring them back alive. That's not changing today," he promised her. Alex nodded, swallowing the hard lump at the back of her throat. She knew that killing Kara wasn't anyone's plan A; but she also knew that, if it were a choice between killing Kara or letting her kill someone else, no DEO agent was going to leave the innocent unprotected.

"Give me the cure gun," she said stonily. Hank looked over his shoulder in the direction of the research lab, where Dr. Schwartzman came running out with the huge ray gun, carrying it in both arms. It looked heavy.

"One clean shot should do it," the doctor panted, holding out the massive gun and allowing Alex to take it from her arms. It _was_ heavy. "Try to aim for the torso or need a bullseye. If it just grazes her, it's not going to do much good." Alex just nodded stoically, hefting the heavy gun into her arms and getting a feel for it, squeezing her hand lightly around the trigger.

"I'm getting her back," the young agent promised, her voice stone-cold as she held the ray gun protectively against her chest, like it was the last life preserver on a sinking ship.

"Go," Hank said simply, jerking his head towards the bay doors where the rest of alpha team was loading into the humvees. "I'll be right behind you." Without another word, Alex turned and ran.

…...

Reports flooding in from NCPD gave the DEO team a general idea of Kara's location near the bar; but before they got close enough to confirm, a huge fireball lit up the night sky above City Square, where a stadium-sized outdoor screen had just been broadcasting Ms. Grant's warning to the populace. The humvees immediately changed course to follow the flames. As soon as the fireball cleared, Alex could see Kara, floating in the air over the city skyline, dressed in a tight black outfit like one of Astra's terrorist soldiers. The dark-haired girl felt her chest getting hot and tight, too, just like Kara had felt all day as the blind rage built up inside her; but Alex's fury was protective, woven through with love and loyalty and devotion. She wasn't going to leave Kara alone in the darkness.

When the DEO vehicles pulled up, the police were already there, shooting useless bullets; Kara just laughed at them, floating there without even trying to fight back, taunting them with the uselessness of their weapons. But then she saw the black DEO vehicles pulling up alongside the cops; and _they_ weren't carrying bullets in their guns as they piled out of the humvees. She saw Alex, too, and in the corner of her mind Kara noted that the dark-haired girl wasn't carrying a regular Kryptonite dart gun; her weapon was huge and glowing red as she powered it on. What the fuck was _that?_ Was Alex actually trying to kill her?

With a massive surge of fury that covered a deeper layer of hurt and fear, Kara spun into a wide circle, zipping past the line of DEO agents faster than a bullet, and clapping her hands to produce a shockwave, knocking the dart guns from even single one of their hands. Alex's gun was so huge, when it was knocked backwards it smashed her arm against the door of the humvee, instantly breaking the bone with a sickening snap. Alex gave a choked gasp of pain, all the air knocked out of her as she fell on her ass on the pavement, her back up against the black humvee. She looked down at the gun at her feet, and tried to pick it up; but her right arm hung useless at her side. She could twitch her fingers a little—it hurt like hell, but she could do it—but she _couldn't_ lift her arm. The break was somewhere in the upper arm bone, above the elbow, and she knew that no matter how hard she tried that arm was _not_ moving. She'd needed both arms before just to lift the thing; but now she'd just have to manage holding it _and_ shooting it with only her left hand.

"Not crying now, huh?" Kara taunted, hovering over Alex with her blonde hair fanning out behind her like a wrathful goddess. "Guess your bones are tougher than your fragile little heart. Or maybe you're just _that_ eager to take me down all by yourself. No guts no glory, right Alex?" She grinned mockingly, lowering herself slightly in the sky as her eyes began to glow laser-bright.

"Kara. You don't want to kill me," Alex choked, still on the ground with her back against the humvee, the giant ray gun holding the antidote lying useless beside her on the pavement.

"No...I'm pretty sure I do," Kara taunted, hovering in place with her eyes still glowing, but putting off the final blast that would melt her fiancee into a puddle of goo. It seemed like she was still enjoying her taunts too much.

 _"Fine,_ if you're so sure, then _do it!"_ the dark-haired girl screamed, her desperation turning into fury now, too. "But don't you dare think for one _fucking_ second that you're doing this because I didn't really love you. If _you_ want to kill me, then kill me, Kara. I can't live without you, anyway." Alex's teeth were gritted hard against the pain, her breathing shallow and rapid. Tears shone bright in her dark eyes, but she didn't let them fall. Kara seemed to falter; she didn't have a comeback ready as she looked down at Alex uncertainly. "I love you, Kara, _you_ , not Supergirl. I love your sweet smile and the way you take care of _everyone_ , the way you see the best in every single person you meet, no matter the circumstances." Hot tears began streaming down the young agent's face as she spoke, but she pushed through them, refusing to break down. Kara was actually listening. At least, she wasn't attacking. Hank was keeping the rest of his field team back for now, securing the perimeter, praying that he wouldn't need to give them the signal to take Supergirl down.

"I love the little happy sound you make when you're eating ice cream, I'm never even sure if you know when you're doing it," Alex continued, staring straight up into Kara's eyes. The blue had never looked so cold before, like the frozen Antarctic sea. "I love the way you sing me to sleep when I'm sad. I love the way you look at me, the way you've looked at me since the 7th grade, so I know, I _know_ in every part of me that you love me as much as I love you. I love the way you stand up for what's right no matter what, you never let anyone push you down. I love _you,_ Kara. I will _always_ love you. So if you're gonna kill me because you think I don't...I swear to God, I will spend the rest of eternity haunting you like an undead cupid-ghost. Because you are _not,"_ Alex growled, panting slightly from the pain now, "allowed...to forget...I love you!"

Kara gritted her teeth as her blue eyes disappeared behind the white-hot glow of her laser-vision again; Alex's words and the emotion vibrating in her voice were flooding the blonde alien girl with the most intensely irrational surge of manic fury yet. She couldn't think. Her insides were screaming. All she could feel was blind rage, like a wounded animal. She wanted to tear down the world, smash it to dust like Krypton. As her chemically-induced temper surged, her face began to glow red again, and the same white-hot stab of pain sliced through her temple. Kara gave an involuntary sob as her eyes squeezed shut, and she grabbed the side of her head, pressing the palm of her hand hard against a spot just above her ear.

It was only a short moment of distraction; but it was all Alex needed. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she reached down and grabbed the huge, heavy gun with her left hand, propping it up on an angle between the sidewalk, the humvee, and her body. Alex had always been a good shot, even with her left hand; but not with a gun so huge and heavy, not with her other arm broken, not with the barrel pointed at the girl she loved. Pausing for half a second, Alex forced herself to breathe. She was only going to get one shot.

She pulled the trigger.

A bolt of bright red light shot out of the gun, hitting Kara squarely in the center of her chest. Her whole body convulsed in midair like she'd just been electrocuted; then she fell fifteen feet to the ground in a heap, as limp as a rag doll. Alex could actually _see_ the electric-red vapor rising out of Kara's skin in a cloud, and disappearing into the night air. It worked. It worked. It _had_ to work.

"Kara?" Alex gasped, scrambling across the pavement and collapsing beside the unconscious blonde girl, her good hand shaking slightly as she reached out and felt for a pulse. There it was, strong and steady. "You're gonna be okay now, bluebird," the young agent murmured, stroking Kara's face protectively with one hand, while the other lay limp and useless in her lap. "You're okay, I got you..." Even though Kara was unconscious, Alex couldn't seem to stop talking, reassuring her that everything was alright. In truth, she was saying it to herself as much as she was saying it to Kara.

…...

It was hours later when Kara woke abruptly on the sunbed. Two sets of electrodes were stuck on either side of her head, monitoring her brain activity since the Red Kryptonite had been flushed from her system. There had been significant neurological damage; but since they'd gotten her into the sunroom, it had steadily begun to disappear, as Kara's brain repaired itself in a way no human brain ever could. Alex hadn't left her side all night, except for the brief time when she was forced to get her arm x-rayed and set. It was a clean break above the elbow; it would heal just fine, as long as she wore the sling they gave her and didn't try to take it, or the cast, off too soon.

Even though Alex was standing behind Kara's head looking at the computer monitor, they were both aware of each other the second Kara's eyes opened. Alex knew, even without all the fancy medical equipment monitoring the blonde girl's brainwaves, that her Kara was back. She just knew. What she _didn't_ yet know was whether Kara would remember anything or not. She had been praying for hours for Kara not to remember. There had been so much brain damage, the neural tissue that had repaired itself was technically brand new; was it impossible to think that maybe this would result in some short-term memory loss? It seemed plausible, Alex thought. It wasn't as if there were any precedent for this type of recovery from a brain injury. On earth, anyway.

"Did I kill anyone?" Kara asked quietly. _She remembers_. Alex's heart sank.

"No," the dark-haired girl shook her head as she circled back to Kara's side, reaching out with her good arm to stroke her love's cheek with a small, reassuring smile. "You didn't kill anyone." Kara covered her face with both hands and started to cry, shaking her head in disbelief at everything she had done.

"It was so horrible, Alex, it was so bad," the blonde girl sobbed, her voice shaking with regret, heartbreak even. "Every bad thought I ever had, every bad thought I _ever_ had, it just...came to the surface...and I couldn't stop it..."

"It wasn't your fault, baby, you were poisoned," Alex hummed soothingly, resting her hand gently on Kara's arm until the blonde girl was ready to uncover her face and actually look at her. "There was nothing you could have done to stop it...someone _did_ this to you, someone who wanted you dead. _You_ are the victim here, it wasn't your fault Kar..." Alex kept running her fingers lightly through Kara's hair, until finally the sobbing girl let her hands fall from her face and looked up.

"Your arm," Kara whispered, her hand shaking slightly as she reached out and grazed her fingers lightly over the edge of the sling. "Lexie..."

"Broken bones heal," Alex said simply, still smiling down at Kara like she was the magnetic center of the universe.

"No...no, _no_ ," Kara whimpered, hot tears still spilling down her face as she held her head in her hands, like she could will it all not to be true. "I would never hurt you, I would _never_ hurt you...but I _did_...I did all those horrible things...Lexie, what I said to you, I didn't mean it, I swear I didn't mean it..."

"Hey," Alex interjected, her voice stern and full of love as she reached out and wiped a few tears from Kara's cheek with her good hand, forcing her to make eye contact. "You're my girl. You've _always_ been my girl. And you're always gonna be my girl...nothing can change that." As she spoke, Alex fumbled awkwardly with her pocket—it was hard doing everything with her left hand—and pulled out Kara's engagement ring.

"You got it back," Kara gasped, sitting up so fast the electrodes pulled off her skin, and the equipment all flatlined.

"I got it back," Alex agreed, slipping the ring gently back onto Kara's finger. "Well, Vasquez got it back. I couldn't leave you. She had to take apart our whole microwave to get it out. I owe her pizza and beer every night that we work late at the DEO for the next month." Alex smiled; then she raised her hand to Kara's, making the magnetically charged rings click together snugly. "I got _you_ back," the dark-haired girl whispered, leaning in and pressing their foreheads together, the way they had done for so many years.

"How can you just forgive me?" Kara whispered after a few minutes of peaceful silence, with their foreheads leaning together and Alex's good hand running slowly through Kara's long hair. "I know, I know, it was this chemical thing that attacked my brain, but...I...I was a monster. I was... _feeding_ off other people's pain. And all those terrible thoughts, the things I said...they didn't just get planted in my head by some messed-up synthetic Kryptonite. I think, deep down...they were already there." Fresh tears welled up in her eyes as she hung her head in shame, running all the way down her face and dripping into her lap.

"Kara, you _don't_ know," Alex shook her head gently, tilting the blonde girl's face back up and stroking some of the dampness from her cheeks. "If you knew what happened to your brain on a chemical level...if it had happened to anyone else, _anyone_ else—you know you'd forgive them, Kara. You know more about forgiveness than anyone I know." Alex smiled encouragingly, and Kara put her hand on top of Alex's against the side of her face, lacing their fingers together.

"The Red K was flawed, it was missing one carbon atom and one nitrogen atom from its molecular structure. That's all. But that little change made _everything_ different. Whoever made this thing, I think they only tested it on _human_ brain cells, which was dumb as bricks because human brain cells aren't affected by Kryptonite on a detectable level anyway. It was a real hack job. Instead of shutting down _all_ you neural transmitters, the Red K only shut down your pleasure receptors. You were physically incapable of feeling happiness, Kara. That alone would drive anyone off the rails." Alex squeezed Kara's hand encouragingly, rubbing her thumb over the back of Kara's hand the way she always did when she unconsciously wanted to express comfort to her beloved little alien. Kara still looked doubtful and guilty and sad.

"But it _also_ stimulated your survival instincts," Alex persisted, determined that Kara should understand, scientifically, why she simply could not blame herself for what happened. "The part of your brain that controls fear and the fight-or-flight response. Since your pleasure receptors were all blocked, the fear and survival reactions that were being _way_ overstimulated had nowhere to go and nothing to latch onto but anger and negative emotion receptors. Do you understand, baby? I know you do, you're too smart to play dumb now. Your brain was turned into a chemical weapon against you. Everyone has anger, everyone has fear. Some people give into it, and some people fight to choose the light. You _had_ no choice, Kara. No more than you have the choice to stop your heart from beating." Alex's continued to play idly with Kara's hand, their fingers weaving together without conscious thought.

"I understand, Alex, I do...and I know you're trying to help...but I just can't...I can't forgive myself," Kara shook her head miserably. More tears streaked silently down her face.

"Well... _I_ forgive you." Alex took Kara's chin gently in her good hand, forcing her not to look away. "Look at me, Kara. _I forgive you._ For all of it. Not just the broken arm," she nodded her head towards the sling, "but for the things you said, the things you thought. You feel guilty for having bad feelings, baby, for having doubts and fears...but _everyone_ has doubts and fears. I understand...why there was a little part of you that was scared I only loved you because it made me feel special to be part of your secret."

 _"No!"_ Kara cried, shaking her head vehemently. "I don't think that Lexie, I swear I don't, I _don't_..."

"Shh," Alex smiled sadly, brushing her thumb across Kara's lips. "It's all right, Kara. You're not human, but you're still a person. At least I read a hashtag somewhere that told me so." They smiled at each other in a brief moment of levity. "And people have pain. People have darkness. _All_ people. Since I know your deepest fear now, I guess I can tell you mine..." the dark-haired girl sighed and looked at the floor; this time she was the one who couldn't bear to make eye contact.

"Right across from that tiny part of you that was scared I only loved you because it made me feel so special...there was a tiny part of _me_ that was scared you only loved me because I was the first person you saw on Earth, the first person to say hello to you and tell you it was all gonna be okay. Like...like maybe I was just in the right place at the right time...and maybe I was just your security blanket."

"Lexie, that's not true," Kara shook her head, reaching up and threading both hands into Alex's hair. Alex sniffed when she looked up, and Kara wiped a tear from under her eye.

"Neither is your thing," Alex replied simply, leaning in and kissing the end of Kara's nose. The blonde girl giggled softly for a moment. "I love you, Kara... _you_ , not your powers."

"I love you too, Lex...I love you..." They got lost in each other's lips for a few minutes; not the desperate, ravaging kisses of _let's get naked_ time, but the kind of kisses that shared comfort and safety and devotion; the kind that helped mend broken hearts.

When they broke apart, Kara still had tears shining on her face, and Alex tenderly wiped them away again. "Are you ready to go home now, bluebird? We're both on paid medical leave for now. At least until I can use my arm again, and you pass a psych eval to show you're not too traumatized for work." She rolled her eyes with a little self-deprecating smile.

"Oh, Rao," Kara groaned, her face going slightly green. "How can I go out there...how can I face everyone? I scared the whole city, I was cruel, I was sadistic...oh my God, Ms. Grant! I almost _killed_ her, Alex! How can I ever, _ever_ face her again?" Kara's lip was trembling; she was really trying to stop crying, but every new thought that entered her head brought a fresh round of tears.

"She forgives you, too," Alex said simply, tucking a long, loose strand of blonde hair back behind Kara's ear.

"She does?" Kara whispered, disbelieving.

"She does," Alex confirmed. "She knows what really happened, Kara, I told her everything. Even in her emergency broadcast, she told the whole city that you had been poisoned, that you weren't acting of your own free will. I wasn't going to bother you with this right away, but since you're flipping out about it anyway, I guess it doesn't matter—she wants to do a TV interview with you, when you're rested and ready. So you can tell the public yourself, tell them what really happened. They deserve the truth, Kar. And _you_ deserve to let yourself off the hook for this, okay?"

"Okay," Kara sniffed, giving Alex a watery smile.

"Yeah?" Alex beamed back at her, seeing the first hint of a real smile in her love's blue eyes, something that looked like acceptance.

"Yeah," Kara nodded, wiping her red eyes. She still looked so tired...the kind of tired that a good night's sleep wouldn't cure.

"Then maybe after that, we should take a little vacation, hmm baby? Go home to Midvale for a week, let our parents spoil us? That wouldn't suck, right?"

"No, I—I can't, Lexie. I can't face Eliza and Jeremiah, not yet. They taught me everything, _everything_ about controlling my powers...I feel like I failed them..."

"You didn't fail them," Alex shook her head vehemently.

"I know." Kara took Alex's hand in both of hers, looking right at her. "I know. But I _feel_ like I did. I just need a little more time, okay baby? I promise."

"Okay," Alex nodded, seeing the truth of it in Kara's eyes. There was no need to rush anything. They had their whole lives to live, they had all the time in the world. "So if you don't wanna go home to Midvale...how about we hop on a plane to Seattle and visit Meredith? We haven't seen her since she graduated med school."

"Meredith? Yeah," Kara smiled, with real color in her cheeks finally. Alex's older cousin was the closest thing either of them had to a big sister, and Kara loved her at least as much as Alex did. The older Grey was their confidante, their wise and all-knowing Buddha. Plus she was extremely hard to freak out, which Kara had always found very comforting. "That's a great idea, Lex. Let's go see Meredith."

…...

 **Author's note!** I didn't want to put this at the top because it would be a spoiler for Meredith's appearance. I've gotten more than a few reviews asking for more Grey's Anatomy crossover; and as I am a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy too (obviously, I brought Lexie Grey into Alex's character because I love her so very very much), it seemed too good to pass up. Obviously I couldn't make Meredith Alex's sister, because it was central to the plot that Kara and Alex are both only children; so I made Mer into Alex's cousin instead. Stay tuned for crossover fun! The next chapter will take place in Seattle. Yay! :)


	16. Seattle Grace

Hey Supergang!

I'm sorry you had to wait a while for this update. Real life and blah blah blah. I honestly don't know how much fun this chap will be for anyone who hasn't also seen Grey's Anatomy...I tried hard to make it that way, but it's hard to be sure, cuz I love that show a lot too and I know those characters as well as I know Kara and Alex. I hope it will still be a fun romp for everyone! No spoilers. Enjoy!

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 16: Seattle Grace**

…...

Kara was having a bad dream. Alex could tell from the way the blonde girl was twitching and whimpering against her shoulder in the airplane seat beside her. It was frustrating not to be able to wrap her arms around her sweet alien and soothe her troubled sleep with cuddles, or play with her hair; Alex knew perfectly well how to soothe Kara out of a nightmare.

But, Kara's head was lying on Alex's left shoulder, her body slumped limp against Alex's whole left side, mostly pinning her arm down; and her right arm was in the stupid sling. All the dark-haired girl could do was slip her left hand over Kara's knee, making soothing little circles with her thumb and humming a soft lullaby, unable to raise her voice out of respect for the dozens of other passengers on board who were _not_ having nightmares and didn't necessarily want to hear her serenade them, no matter how lovely her voice was. For a few minutes, Alex's gentle attempts at soothing her sleeping blondie's nightmares seemed to be helping; then with a strangled gasp, Kara's blue eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in her seat, panting like she'd just run from National City to Seattle on foot.

"Hey, you're okay bluebird. I'm right here," Alex cooed, running her hand through Kara's long hair now that her arm wasn't pinned to her side by the blonde girl's dead weight. "Were you having that same dream again?" Kara just nodded, turning in her seat to cuddle up to Alex more tightly, hiding her face in shiny dark hair and wrapping one arm around her waist, carefully avoiding the sling still cradling Alex's broken arm. She still felt so guilty about that. When she'd been under the effects of the Red Kryptonite, she'd said and done so many awful things, she'd terrified the whole city; but the only person she actually, physically hurt was Alex. It hadn't been intentional, even in the moment; she'd only been trying to knock the guns out of the DEO agents' hands with a sonic shockwave. But Alex's gun—the one holding the cure—was so huge and heavy that it broke her arm when it slammed her back against the humvee. Alex had forgiven her a hundred times in the last few days, but Kara was still a long way from forgiving herself. The nightmares alone were proof enough of that.

"Do you wanna tell me about it?" Alex asked gently, her fingers playing gently through Kara's blonde hair.

"No," Kara murmured, her face still pressed into the crook of Alex's neck. "Just hold me a little tighter..." The dark-haired girl was happy to comply, and she slipped her good hand out of Kara's hair, wrapping her up in a tight one-armed hug. Kara held onto Alex just as tightly, sniffling a little as tears began to spill down her cheeks into her fiancee's dark hair.

"You didn't lose me, baby. I'm right here," Alex hummed, aching to rip off the sling and wrap both arms tightly around her shaking, crying girl. "Take a deep breath and tell me about your dream, bluebird. You know you always start to feel better after you talk about it." Kara sniffled again and nodded wordlessly against Alex's neck, taking a few deep breaths before she sat back slightly, not going fully back into her own seat, but relaxing her death-grip on Alex's waist so she could sit back and breathe a little, her head still resting on Alex's shoulder. She took her fiancee's hand in both her own, running one finger over Alex's engagement ring.

"It's just like every night since I hurt you," Kara said quietly.

"Since you were poisoned with a biological weapon that altered your brain," Alex added, gently but stubbornly. Kara just shrugged in passive agreement.

"I wake up and you're gone...and I know something bad happened, the way you just know things in dreams, I just know...something terrible, and I wasn't there to stop it..." The tears were sliding down Kara's face now, and she sniffled and wiped them away. Alex was going mental from not being able to wipe Kara's tears away herself; having her dominant arm in a sling was incredibly restrictive. At least she still had her sweet girl curled up against her good side, her left hand tangled up in Kara's, giving her as much comfort as she could. "And I just started screaming for you, and it was so quiet, the whole world was just _silent_...I ran out in the street and there were no cars, no people...everyone was gone... _everyone_...and I scream and scream, but I know there's no one there to answer...my aunt's army, myriad, I couldn't stop it...I'm all alone on a dead planet..." Kara sniffled again, and started to cry in earnest, dropping her head against Alex's shoulder. "I failed Earth, just like my mother failed Krypton..."

"It's just a bad dream, baby. It's not real. We're all still here," Alex hummed softly, kissing Kara's forehead on her shoulder. "Listen to my heartbeat, Kara...I'm right here with you, I'll never leave you...my sweet bluebird..." They stayed huddled up like that quietly for a few minutes, Kara focusing on the warm, steady rhythm of Alex's beating heart. The captain's voice came in through the overhead speakers, announcing their final descent into Seattle, and asking everyone to return their seats and tray tables to their upright and locked position. The two girls had both taken off their seatbelts during the flight so they could cuddle closer together; and now Kara sat up wiping her eyes, buckling Alex's seatbelt for her, since it was pretty hard for her to do with just her left hand. Then she did her own, just for appearances, even though she didn't technically need it.

"Ladies, can I get you anything before we land?" The young flight attendant asked kindly as she passed with the big garbage bag to collect everyone's trash. She wasn't blind, it was obvious that Kara had been crying, and she passed them a small stack of the tiny square airplane napkins since there weren't any kleenex.

"We're fine...thank you," Kara sniffed, looking down shamefully at her lap as she wiped her eyes and nose hastily.

"Actually, can we get a cold can of Coke, and some of those little bags of chocolate chip cookies?" Alex asked, knowing the sugar would make Kara feel better, even if she wouldn't ask for it. Ever since she woke up from the Red Kryptonite poisoning, Kara seemed unable to ask for _anything_ for herself, like she didn't think she deserved it. She couldn't stop punishing herself.

"Sure thing." The blonde flight attendant flashed them a very compassionate smile, and hastened off to finish her garbage run so she could bring them their snacks before the plane landed.

"She's pretty," Kara remarked dully, wiping her nose on a fresh napkin. "And I bet she hasn't thrown anyone off a building or broken anyone's bones recently..."

"Yeah, so I guess I should just marry her, huh?" Alex teased gently, trying to lighten Kara's depression if even for a moment.

"Probably," the blonde girl sniffed dejectedly, wiping her nose one more time before shoving the used napkins in her pocket and rubbing her eyes again.

"Baby..." Alex sighed, tilting Kara's chin up with her good hand. "You gotta stop torturing yourself, _please_. Do it for me, if you can't do it for yourself. You want to make me feel better? I can't feel better unless _you_ feel better. I need my bluebird back. Your interview just aired this morning, people will understand, they'll come around...you know that, Kara. You have more faith in people than anyone I've ever known."

"How are you so good to me, Lexie?" Kara sighed, with another tentative smile that brought out a little of the sparkle in her blue eyes. Alex hadn't seen much of that in the past few days.

"Years of practice," the dark-haired girl smiled back, cupping her good hand to Kara's cheek and pulling her in for a gentle kiss. That was when the flight attendant returned with their requested goodies.

"Ahem," the young woman cleared her throat a little to get their attention.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," Kara blushed, sitting back in her seat abruptly. Alex made no such apologies.

"For what? Cookies and a can of Coke are all very well and good, but we don't offer the kind of amenities you're getting here. I'm sure your girlfriend can make you feel better a lot faster than I can." She held out the snacks, and Kara took them gratefully. She was starving, as usual.

"Fiancee," Kara corrected, holding out her hand to show off her engagement ring. "And yes...she's the best at making me feel better." It was the first genuine smile Alex had seen on Kara's face in days, and the dark-haired girl beamed.

"Congratulations," the young woman smiled. "Now I just need you to raise your seats back up. We'll be landing in Seattle in a few minutes."

…...

After they had collected their luggage from the baggage claim, Kara and Alex stopped at the car rental counter and got a car and a map of Seattle, driving straight to the hospital so they could surprise Meredith. They hadn't told her they were coming because they knew that being a surgical resident, the older Grey would just say she was too busy and push them off for "later," which would never really come. But they also knew that if they just showed up, she'd be so thrilled to see them there was no way she'd send them away again. Kara fussed over Alex as they walked out to their rental car, insisting on carrying all the bags and even buckling Alex's seatbelt for her.

"Kara, stop! I can buckle my own seatbelt, you don't have to hover this much," Alex sighed, hating to see the lengths her poor little alien was going to as she tried to make up for what she'd done under the Red K, over and over, every moment.

"I know you _can_. But it hurts you," Kara sighed, ignoring Alex's command and leaning over her to buckle her seatbelt, then kissing her forehead. "Your ribs are still bruised, I can see you flinching when you try to reach your left arm across your body."

"I'm a federal agent, you know. I've had worse than bruised ribs before," Alex reminded her anxious little alien gently, catching her hand as she stood back up and giving it a little squeeze. Kara just nodded, looking glumly down at her shoes. Alex sighed. "I promise I'll tell you when I really do need help, okay? Haven't I been good about that so far?"

"In the bathtub...yeah," Kara smirked, and Alex grinned back, happy to see a little of the old sparkle returning to her blondie's clear blue eyes.

"See, I know how to ask for what I want."

"Yes you do," Kara agreed, still grinning as visuals of soapy wet skin flooded her mind.

"So get in the car and drive, woman. I command you," Alex teased.

"Yes, Mistress Lexie," Kara giggled, leaning down and giving her love one more thorough kiss before closing the passenger side door, and circling around to the driver's seat.

When they got to the hospital, they got directions to the surgical ward; and once they knew they were in the rough vicinity of the older Grey, Kara just closed her eyes for a moment and extended her super-hearing, easily locating Meredith's voice down a hallway that said _Restricted Access_ across the doors. A quick x-ray peek past the doors showed Kara exactly where her honorary cousin was chatting among a group of similarly young surgeons in light blue scrubs, sitting around what looked like a break room and talking excitedly about some big surgery they'd just observed as they wolfed down their lunches, eager to get right back to work as soon as possible.

"She's right down there," Kara murmured to Alex, nodding her head toward the restricted hallway. "Should we just try to sneak past the door and see what happens?"

"No, let's have someone page her and say it's an emergency or something. She'll come running like the time we knocked over my dad's bookcase when she was supposed to be watching us," Alex snickered.

"Lexie! That wasn't funny!" Kara scolded, smacking her lightly on her good shoulder. "We scared the crap out of her, she thought we crushed ourselves to death."

"We probably would have, if you hadn't jumped on top of me first. That thing was _huge_.There should really be a weight limit on bookshelves, like suspension bridges."

"Well maybe if _some_ people wouldn't try to tickle me so close to large heavy objects, we wouldn't need to impose a weight limit on everything in the house," Kara teased back, with a little snort of laughter. Alex beamed. It was working—Kara was starting to think about something other than how guilty she felt about the Red K. She was smiling and laughing and thinking of happy memories. And they still hadn't even seen Meredith.

While they were whispering and giggling together by the ER main desk, a young doctor with wavy blonde hair and pale blue eyes stopped short and stared at them for a moment, one eyebrow raised inscrutably. "Hey! Alex Grey and Kara Danvers...did you grow up, or do I have early onset Alzheimer's?!" She wasn't quite as young as Kara and Alex remembered her; but she still couldn't be more than 35 or so.

"Dr. Robbins!" Kara's smile got even bigger as she looked over Alex's shoulder and saw the face of the first doctor she'd ever met on this planet, when Alex got hurt in the car explosion on Kara's first day of school. "What are you doing in Seattle?" Without waiting for an answer, Kara ran over and hugged her, being careful not to squeeze too hard. Kara was being extra-careful about _everything_ right now, terrified to hurt anyone after the trauma of the Red K.

"I live here," Dr. Robbins shrugged. "And please call me Arizona, you're not seventh graders anymore. After I finished my residency in Midvale, I was offered the Pediatric Surgical Fellowship here, and now I'm an attending. What are _you_ doing here? You both look so grown-up...and what did you do to that arm, missy? I just fixed that!" She said to Alex, her voice stern with mock-scolding.

"I'm an FBI agent now," Alex smiled, shrugging her good shoulder. "I take a few hard knocks now and then. But I always come back kicking."

"I bet you do. You always were tough as nails," Arizona shook her head. "When you came into the ER at Midvale Memorial, your arm looked like five pounds of raw hamburger, and you were still more worried about this one," she nodded her head towards Kara. "I'm glad to see you're still together," she smiled knowingly, eyeing their engagement rings. "I had a feeling you would be."

"Yeah, somehow no one seemed surprised," Alex shook her head with a smile, taking Kara's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But Meredith doesn't actually know we're engaged yet, so don't say anything, okay? Actually, can you take us back to the residents' lounge? She doesn't know we're coming, it's a surprise."

"Oh my gosh, you're Little Grey!" Arizona squealed, her eyes going wide with delight. "How cool is this! I am _so_ coming to your wedding. Half the hospital will want to be there."

 _"Little Grey?_ My name is Alex," the dark-haired girl said in confusion, raising an eyebrow in slight distaste. It was hard enough being twenty-four years old and a senior-ranking federal agent; people tended not to take her seriously because of her youth. Anything that made her seem more like a kid was _not_ high on her list of things she wanted to be called. "Meredith doesn't call me that," she added defensively.

"I know, but we already have an Alex here," Arizona shrugged, smirking a little at the pouty expression on Alex's face at the endearing nickname. "He's one of Meredith's roommates, they're close. So anytime she'd talk about you, 'Alex this' and 'Alex that,' it got confusing real quick."

"Aww, Meredith's so proud of her badass little cousin," Kara cooed delightedly, leaning in and giving her pouting fiancee a light kiss. Alex was smiling again when Kara released her; anything that made Kara smile right now, made Alex smile too.

"She certainly is," Arizona agreed. "I don't know why it never occurred to me that Meredith's cousin Alex could be the same Alex Grey I met all those years ago...I didn't know Meredith was from Midvale..."

"Donuts! I have donuts!" Another doctor in navy scrubs like Arizona's came striding through the restricted door with a big bakery box, smiling at the blonde pediatric surgeon the same way Alex always smiled at Kara. She was beautiful, tall and caramel-skinned with long black hair and flawless eyeliner. Behind her was another doctor, a man, taller and slightly older with salt-and-pepper hair, but undeniably handsome. If one were to be interested in men. The dark-haired doctor came up and kissed Arizona lightly on the lips, putting the bakery box down on the edge of the ER desk.

"Callie! You won't believe this," Arizona beamed, grabbing her girlfriend and turning her towards Kara and Alex. "This is Kara Danvers and Alex Grey. I fixed this one's arm my first week of residency back in Midvale."

"That was your first week?" Kara asked, astounded. The memory she had of Dr. Robbins was so calm and cool and in command, she'd seemed so adult. But the truth was, she'd been no older than Kara and Alex were now. "That's so weird, because it was my first week"—she was about to say _on Earth_ , but Alex silently stepped on her foot, as if she knew what was about to pop out of the blonde girl's mouth. "...in Midvale," she finished awkwardly. "It was right after Eliza and Jeremiah adopted me."

"You'll have to give Eliza my regards," Arizona beamed. "She was one of my research mentors when I was an intern," she explained to Callie and Mark.

"Yeah, of course I will," Kara nodded.

"Ahem." Mark glared at Arizona indignantly, not liking being left out of the conversation.

"Oh, right, sorry—Kara, Alex, this is my girlfriend, Dr. Calliope Torres, and this is Dr. Mark Sloan. You can just call him man-whore, it's much easier," the blonde doctor smirked.

"You know Callie and I haven't slept together in over a year, Robbins. You remember that, right? You made an honest woman out of her," Mark said wryly, with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, but I didn't make an honest woman out of _you_ ," Arizona teased.

"Well maybe someone else could. Someone who doesn't call me _man-whore_ ," Mark said, making a show of being offended, even though it was obviously just in jest. "So, what happened here?" he asked, shifting his attention to Alex, and giving her his brightest, most charming smile as he looked at her arm in the sling...then very obviously, looking over the rest of her with a flirty grin. "Nerve damage? Are you here for a consult? Shepard may have the best record when it comes to brain tumors, but _I'm_ your guy if you're looking for a nerve graft. Maybe we could talk about it over dinner?" Alex didn't say anything—she didn't need to. She just glanced sideways at Kara's outraged expression, and allowed her adorable blonde bodyguard to do the talking.

"Hi? Could you please stop hitting on my fiancee, Dr. Man-whore?" Kara said in a deadly serious voice, her blue eyes flashing protectively as she took a half-step in front of Alex's body.

"Oh, geez...sorry," Mark shook his head, noticing their engagement rings. "No offense intended. I see a beautiful woman and everything else just kind of disappears." He gave them a little wink. Alex couldn't decide whether to be flattered or disgusted. Maybe both.

"You might _also_ want to back off Meredith's little cousin, before she comes out here and punches you in the nose," Arizona added, looking delighted at Mark's discomfort.

"Oh, shit! You're Little Grey!" Mark exclaimed, his eyes widening as he took Alex in all over again, noticing now the curve of her cheekbones and the shape of her eyes. She looked a lot like Meredith, really, even though their coloring was different.

"Okay, seriously? Who started this Little Grey stuff? My name is _Agent_ Alex Grey, I'm a senior FBI operative." Alex looked like _she_ wanted to punch someone in the nose. It was undeniably cute. Kara couldn't help smiling a little.

"Yeah, we already have an Alex," Mark explained apologetically.

"I covered that," Arizona nodded with a smirk.

"It was just kind of confusing," Callie added.

"I covered that too," Arizona hummed, still grinning.

"I told Mer she could just call you Lexie, but"—

 _"I'm_ the only one who calls her Lexie," Kara snarled protectively, her blue eyes flashing like a tiger about to pounce.

"Yeah, that's what Meredith said," Callie laughed, watching the body language between the two young women. "So that leads us back to Little Grey. Not sounding so bad now, right?" Alex rolled her eyes, but an unwilling smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She was glad Meredith had such good friends...and it was nice to know that her older cousin hadn't forgotten all about her since she'd moved away to Seattle to be a hotshot surgeon.

"Fine, okay, whatever. I'll be Little Grey. Now will someone please page Meredith 911? So she thinks it's an emergency? We want to surprise her, she'll totally freak out," Alex grinned, a glint of adolescent glee twinkling in her dark eyes as she bounced eagerly on the balls of her feet.

"Me me me!" Callie exclaimed, seeming to share Alex's childish delight in freaking Meredith out. "She scrubbed in with me yesterday on a broken clavicle and there was a subclavian bleed, the guy nearly bled out on the table. If I page her 911, she'll totally think he's coding. She'll come running in a heartbeat, just watch." Just as predicted, Meredith came bursting through the _Restricted Access_ doors less than sixty seconds later, so focused on Callie and what instructions she would give to keep their patient alive, she didn't notice Kara and Alex there at first.

"Callie, I'm here, what happened?" The older Grey demanded, looking worried but totally focused. Kara, unexpectedly, jumped onto Meredith's back, just like she used to when she was a kid. Alex beamed at Kara's happy expression. Clearly, coming to Seattle had been the right choice in the cheering-Kara-up department.

"Surprise!" Kara giggled in Meredith's ear, hugging her tightly before hopping down off her back.

"Hi Mer," Alex waved sheepishly with her good arm.

"We found Little Grey," Callie pointed with a big smirk on her face. "Mark already tried to hit on her. So all the pleasantries are out of the way now."

"Oh my _God,_ what are you guys doing here?" Meredith exclaimed, a huge smile on her face as she hugged Kara tight and then took in Alex's broken arm, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "What have you done to yourself now?" she demanded, an equal mixture of concern and scolding in her voice. It was just habit; she'd spent so many years of their childhood scolding Alex to be more careful when she'd come home bloody and banged up from one crazy adventure or another.

"Sorry, it's"—

"Classified, yeah yeah, I know," Meredith rolled her eyes. "I mean medically. I don't need to hear about the bad guys, just tell me what happened to your arm." She folded her arms over her chest and glared at Alex expectantly. Kara smirked a little; she'd almost forgotten how similar Meredith and Alex's death-glares were.

"Blunt-force distal humerus break. Clean. No nerve damage. I'll be back in the field in a couple of months, okay mama bear? No complications, I'm fine. Really." Alex smiled and held out her good arm for a hug. Meredith sighed and shook her head; she would never get used to seeing her baby cousin with these kinds of battle wounds. But, she did always bounce back again. Meredith opened her arms and gave Alex a very gentle hug, careful not to put any pressure on her right side.

"I'm glad you're here," Meredith said quietly in Alex's ear before she released her.

"We're glad too," Alex beamed as her cousin released her. Then Meredith's eyes narrowed as she looked between them, her death-glare firmly back in place now that she knew Alex wasn't in any medical danger.

"I can't"—Meredith growled between clenched teeth, smacking Alex's good shoulder, "believe"—she smacked Kara's shoulder now—"you got"—another smack for Alex—"engaged"—back to Kara, _smack!_ "...And you didn't tell me! I had to hear it from Aunt Susan?! I should break your other arm, brat."

"No joking about breaking Alex's bones," Kara shook her head anxiously, her rosy cheeks going pale as the color drained from her face. Alex took her hand and squeezed reassuringly.

"Fine, then I'll break _your_ arm, smartypants," Meredith raised an eyebrow at Kara, half playful and half deadly. "You're my cousin now too, so I can whoop your ass for being so stupid!"

"We're sorry, Mer. It's only been a couple of weeks, okay? We're here to tell you now. I'm sorry you had to hear it from my mom, you know she's _terrible_ at keeping her mouth shut." _At least she didn't spill the beans about Supergirl,_ Alex thought with a deep sigh of relief.

"Yeah, well. You _did_ fly all the way to Seattle, I guess I can't stay mad anymore. How long are you staying? _Where_ are you staying? Scratch that, you're staying with me. Alex can crash on the couch for a few nights. I mean, not you,"—

"The _other_ Alex," Kara interrupted with a smirk. "Yeah, we heard. You sure he won't mind us taking over his room?"

"Oh, he will. But I'll buy him a beer and he'll get over it. Oh! We should all gets drinks at Joe's tonight. I can introduce you to everyone," Meredith was beaming at them, not seeming at all upset that they'd arrived unannounced and messed up her surgical schedule. She was too happy to see them to be upset. "You both look so grown-up and gorgeous," the older Grey added, shaking her head. "I can't believe it's been...what, two years since we were all together? You were barely out of college. Now look at you. The badass FBI agent and the Executive Assistant to Cat Grant's global media empire."

"You work for Cat Grant?" Arizona raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "From what I've heard, that job requires just as much bravery as being a field agent in the FBI."

"Oh, Ms. Grant's not so bad once you get to know her," Kara smiled, shaking her head. "She's a brilliant mentor, she's really done a lot for me. Just don't bring her a cold latte and you'll be okay."

"So, if you work for Cat Grant..." Callie folded her arms and leaned in with an eager, curious expression. "Have you ever met Supergirl? I mean, Cat Grant is like, Supergirl's corporate sponsor, right? Did you watch that interview this morning, or were you already on the plane?"

"We saw it," Kara nodded, the smile sliding off her face as some of the sparkle faded from her blue eyes. "And yes...we've met Supergirl a couple of times. So, what did you guys think when you saw the interview? Do you...do you really believe her, that she was poisoned when she attacked National City, that she wasn't acting under her own control?" Callie snorted and rolled her eyes. Arizona smacked her arm reprovingly.

"Of course we believe her," their childhood doctor assured them with a smile. It was the same gentle smile that had put them at ease when they were rolled into Midvale Memorial twelve years ago, Alex bleeding all over Kara, who was crying so much she couldn't even speak. "She looked so sad, and she didn't even try to defend herself, it was like she _wanted_ everyone to blame her for what happened. Ms. Grant had to quiz her like a game show host just to get her to admit she wasn't acting under her own power. Whoever set that trap with the superhero-poison, _that's_ who the whole country should be pissed at. Not Supergirl." Kara smiled weakly, warmed by the blonde doctor's faith. She wondered how many people would share her kind view of the situation.

"Well I don't think it matters much whether she was acting of her own free will or not," Callie shrugged. "Now every alien bad guy in the world knows there's a way they can turn Supergirl into a monster. They'll just start attacking twice as hard, trying to get her back to being all ragey and sociopathic. _I_ wouldn't want to live in a city where I had to wake up every morning and wonder, 'will our superhero be good or evil today?' I mean, would _you_ care whose fault it was, if you were staring down a psycho alien with laser-eyes?" Callie raised an eyebrow expectantly. Kara looked down at her feet.

"No," Kara said quietly, still looking down at her feet. "I wouldn't." Alex reached out and wrapped a lock of long blonde hair around her finger, tugging her love a little closer.

"Hey, c'mon bluebird. We're on vacation with Mer. No sad face." She ducked her head down a little to kiss Kara, who was still looking down glumly at her shoes. But Alex's kiss pulled her up again, like a gentle current of electricity that ran all through her body. She couldn't help feeling better when Alex kissed her.

"Sorry, should I not have said that? I didn't mean to offend you," Callie said hastily, looking from Kara's brave attempt at a smile, to Meredith's stern glare pointing her way. "I mean, you said you only met Supergirl a couple of times...was that code for, 'she's secretly our best friend but we can't tell you for national security reasons?' I'm sure she's an awesome person, she runs around saving National City every other day, and she doesn't even get paid."

"It's okay," Alex assured her, lacing her fingers together with Kara's and giving them a silent squeeze.

"Well when _I_ saw the interview, all I could think was how sorry I felt for her," Meredith interjected into the awkward silence that followed. "I mean, here's this girl who lost her entire _world,_ and all she's done since she came to this planet is try to help people. She's never asked for anything in return. She's just like us doctors, running around trying to save lives every day. _We've_ all made mistakes that cost lives while we're learning how to be surgeons...but we have mentors, we have attendings, we have the chief...all reminding us to learn from our mistakes and look forward, keep going, think about the next life that we can save. It doesn't seem like Supergirl has anyone to do that for her...and she didn't even _make_ a mistake. Her brain was hijacked. It wasn't her fault. I wish someone would tell her that."

"Oh...someone has," Alex smiled a little, looking up and sharing a moment of meaningful eye contact with her cousin. "A few someones, actually. But it's like you said. She's hard on herself."

"Then she really _is_ just like us," Meredith shrugged. "Surgeons, we're the exact same way. We spend so much time and so much energy trying to save everyone, every day...but people are still going to die. No one lives forever. And that's not on us."

"Yeah...I guess that's true," Kara sighed, finally looking up at Meredith with a small, grateful smile. "I'm sure she would feel better if she knew she wasn't the only person in the world who ever felt that way."

"Well you can go ahead and tell her I said so. When you get back to National City," Meredith said coyly, putting a hand out on each of their shoulders and leading them back toward the _Restricted Access_ doorway she'd come through. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to some of my friends, and then maybe you'll go grab some food until I can get off work and come meet you? I know Kara's probably starving." She nudged the blonde girl in the ribs, and Kara grinned sheepishly.

"You know your customers, huh Mer?" Alex smiled gratefully at her older cousin, who had just done more to lift Kara's spirits than she could possibly know.

"Mm-hmm," Meredith agreed with a smirk. She lowered her voice as they passed through the swinging double-doors, carefully checking that there was no one else in the hallway around them. "And then you can tell me all about your flying escapades... _Supergirl_."

 _...To be continued!_


	17. Family Secrets

Hello darlings!

Small note on this chap regarding the crossover: I am not sticking to any specific canon plotline for where we are in the Grey's Anatomy timeline. It's an AU, so I can do whatever I want anyway. I just took the characters I wanted, and referenced some things that fit well; but don't assume anything beyond that in terms of the Seattle timeline. It's just good times. So enjoy!

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 17: Family Secrets**

…...

By the time Meredith and her friends arrived at Joe's at the end of their shift, Kara and Alex had already eaten dinner at two different restaurants (well, Alex just had coffee at the second one), and were now playing darts at the back of the pub, Alex trying to show off by competing left-handed since her dominant arm was out of commission. They were arguing playfully about whether or not Kara was losing on purpose to make Alex feel better, when the jingling bell over the pub door signaled the older Grey's arrival. Kara knew it was Meredith before she even turned around; she recognized the sound of her honorary cousin's voice, even through all the din across the length of the pub. She felt a nervous rush of tingling energy when she thought about the conversation they were going to have to have with Meredith later; how the older Grey knew, somehow, about Kara's secret, when _no one_ else had ever guessed the truth.

But Kara and Alex had both decided not to worry about that for now; if Meredith was going to spill the beans, she obviously would have done so a long time ago, and they were eager to meet all of their big cousin's cool doctor friends and hear about her life in Seattle. That was what they had come here for, after all, to take Kara's mind _off_ her Supergirl troubles. That conversation could wait until they were alone.

"Hey! Mer!" Kara jumped up and waved excitedly as the older Grey lead her group back towards the booth near the dart board where Alex and Kara had been camped out for the last hour. There were five others following after Meredith, three guys and two girls; all of them young and beautiful and looking like they had just walked off a movie set about a hospital, rather than an actual hospital. They must have been working for at _least_ twelve hours, but they didn't even look tired; they had the same adrenalin-fueled glaze in their eyes that Meredith did. Same as Alex and Kara after a major DEO bust. Thrill seekers, the whole lot of them.

"I see you managed to stay out of trouble in Seattle for a whole afternoon," the blonde resident teased, hugging Kara and Alex both in turn, being a little more gentle with Alex than necessary and carefully avoiding the sling holding her right arm motionless against her body.

"So you're really in the FBI? You must be so brave. I think I'd wet myself the first time I had a gun pointed at me," the freckle-faced redhead behind Meredith babbled admiringly.

"Yeah, well that's a pretty low bar. You'd probably wet yourself if I pointed a Nerf gun at you," one of the guys rolled his eyes. He looked a little rough around the edges, but the redhead girl just rolled her eyes back at him; so obviously he wasn't really so tough.

"Remind me, Alex, about the heart in the elevator? I'm sure the pretty girls would _love_ to hear that story," one of the other guys said mildly, raising an eyebrow. He had an especially gentle look, like the kind of boy who wasn't a fighter, but would take a schoolyard beating to protect someone smaller; and then dust himself off and carry your books to class for you.

"Bite me, O'Malley," the tough guy rolled his eyes.

"Ha! You just don't want Mer's hot cousins to know you're a little bitch-baby," snorted the other female resident, an Asian woman with long wavy hair and a very satisfied expression of amusement as she looked between the tough guy and the cute dorky guy. "You know they're engaged, right? To each other? So they don't care how big a bitch-baby you are, anyway."

"Stop saying bitch-baby, Yang!" The tough guy snapped. Everyone else burst out laughing, and they all sat down around the booth; even the tough guy, though he was still rolling his eyes and pretending not to care.

"Okay, everybody shut up. This is the famous Little Grey—my brilliant cousin Alex, senior FBI operative and forensic analyst," Meredith beamed, ruffling Alex's hair beside her, and delighting in the fact that Alex couldn't retaliate because her arm was in the sling. Alex just rolled her eyes sheepishly and allowed her hair to be mussed. "And this is my _honorary_ cousin, and soon to be _official_ cousin, the equally brilliant Kara Danvers."

"Hi," Kara waved with a shy smile. "It's nice to meet you all."

"And this is Cristina Yang, April Kepner, Jackson Avery, George O'Malley, and Alex Karev," Meredith pointed to each of her friends in turn. The tough-looking guy, as it turned out, was the _other Alex_ , the one whose room they'd be taking over. He looked like the kind of guy who said "whatever" a lot when he didn't want to talk about actual feelings.

"Hi everybody," Alex smiled at all of them and accepted a glass of beer from a pitcher than Meredith poured for her. "It's great to meet you all. And, um, Alex," she addressed Karev, "thanks for letting us crash in your room for a few days."

"Whatever," Karev shrugged indifferently, immediately fulfilling their first impression of him.

"Yeah, I'd check the whole room for hidden webcams before you say that," Cristina snorted, taking a glass of beer and passing the rest around. "Karev would just loooooove to get some free girl-on-girl porn while he's sleeping on the couch, wouldn't you?" She smirked and raised an eyebrow at him teasingly. Karev rolled his eyes. Meredith hit Cristina on the arm.

"Shut up, perv! These are my baby cousins!"

"I didn't say _I_ was using them for free porn!" Cristina exclaimed indignantly, rubbing her arm in fake pain. Kara giggled, and Alex beamed hugely—not at the conversation, but at Kara's smile. This was why they'd come here. Being with Meredith was always good.

 _"Everybody_ shut up," the younger Grey smirked. "We haven't seen Meredith since she started her residency. We want to hear about cool surgeon stuff. What are you guys studying? What cool procedures have you been in on?" Alex raised her eyebrows eagerly.

"I thought you were an FBI agent," George frowned in confusion. "You really wanna talk shop with a bunch of surgical residents?"

"She does forensics too, George. Not just field work. She has a PhD in Bioengineering from Stanford," Meredith said proudly, her smile as big as Alex's had been when she was watching Kara giggle.

"Wait, you have a PhD? But I thought you're only 24," April shook her head in confusion. Alex smiled shyly, and Kara beamed at her proudly.

"Well I told you she was brilliant, didn't I?" Meredith grinned, poking Alex between her ribs. Normally this would make the younger Grey giggle like a three-year-old; but right now her ribs were still bruised from the sonic blast that broke her arm—the one Kara caused when she was poisoned with the Red K—and she stiffened with a slight jolt of pain, trying not to wince visibly. Meredith noticed, but didn't say anything, knowing from all their years growing up together how much Alex disliked being fussed over when she was hurt; unless, of course, Kara was the one doing the fussing.

"I skipped third grade," Alex shrugged modestly. "And I got advanced standing in my doctoral program straight out of undergrad because of my research. That's how I got recruited into the FBI."

"Ooh, what research?" Cristina asked, her eyes going wide with the manic gleam of intellectual curiosity, the same one that Alex had had a minute ago when she was asking them about their surgical cases.

"I'm sorry, it's classified," Alex sighed, smiling sheepishly as they all groaned and threw peanuts at her from the basket on the table.

"Do _you_ know what her research is about?" Cristina demanded of Kara, her eyes still wide with urgent determination to get all the information.

"I work for Cat Grant. You _really_ think I'm allowed to know national security secrets?" Kara joked, her favorite method of evading problematic questions without actually having to lie. She just didn't _actually_ answer the _actual_ question.

"Oh, yeah, Mer told us that. Is the queen of all media as terrifying as the legends say?" Jackson asked, putting on his most dazzling, green eyed smile for Kara, even though he knew perfectly well that she was engaged. To the girl sitting right beside her. April rolled her eyes at him. _Boys._

"Sometimes. But she's an amazing mentor, too. I can't even begin to tell you how much I've learned from her...everything I owe her..." Kara's voice trailed off as her blue eyes grew glassy and distant, her brain flashing back unwillingly to the image of throwing her boss off the 40th floor balcony; and how compassionate Cat had been afterwards in the interview, forgiving Kara on screen in front of the whole world, when the blonde superhero couldn't even forgive herself. She'd cried a little on camera during the interview, even though she'd tried hard not to. And suddenly, she was back there, feeling the shock and horror of waking up from the Red K; not here in Joe's Pub. Everyone at the table sensed Kara's sudden discomfort, though only Alex and Meredith knew she was actually having a minor PTSD flashback. Meredith jumped into the sudden lull in the conversation and hastily switched gears.

"Okay, here's something cool. Remember my mom's old journals that I found in high school, the ones that had notes from virtually every single case of her residency?" The older Grey asked brightly. Her mother had died when she was very young; that was why her dad, Alex's uncle, had moved them back to his own hometown of Midvale, where his brother's family would be close by. And _that_ was how little preschool Alex had become her older cousins's shadow, from the time she was four and Meredith was eight.

"Yeah, of course. We were the only kids in school blowing off our homework to read the unabridged medical journals of a Harper Avery Award winning surgeon," Alex smirked fondly. Kara hastily wiped away a tear that was about to fall, trying to shake off the sudden onslaught of haunting flashbacks and feelings from the Red K that talking about Ms. Grant had brought to the surface of her mind. Alex slipped her hand into Kara's, grateful that her fiancee was sitting to her left so she had a hand available to offer. She rubbed her thumb in little circles over the back of Kara's hand, something that always made the blonde girl feel better when she was upset. Kara gave her a shy little smile, and a soft kiss. Everyone noticed how the two young women seemed to communicate without words; the love between them practically radiated from the table.

"Right," Meredith cleared her throat to get their attention back, though she was smiling biggest of all at the PDA going on right next to her. She'd been waiting for years for this to happen. "Well, I showed them to the Chief, and he wants me to work with him on a clinical trial for a pancreatic implant device my mom was working on before she died, that could possibly cure Type I Diabetes."

"The Islet cell experiment?" Alex's eyes grew as wide and excited as Meredith's. "Oh my God, Mer! That's amazing! I bet all the advancements in 3D imaging and laparoscopic implantation methods will really make a difference. You could put it almost anywhere."

"I know, right?" Meredith beamed back excitedly.

"Hi, I'm sorry, time out," Cristina waved her hand up and down between the two Greys to get their attention back from geeking out together. " _Little Grey_ read your mom's medical journals? How old were you then, fifteen?"

"Fourteen," Alex corrected modestly.

"And you understood them, and you still remember it all ten years later?"

"Photographic memory." Alex tapped the side of her head with a small smile, trying not to look too smug.

"If you weren't a federal agent, I'd punch you in the face right now," Cristina said with a completely deadpan expression. Alex and Meredith both giggled, thinking of what Kara would do if that actually were to happen.

"How about if I say the next round's on me?" Alex offered with an easy smile, gesturing to the empty beer pitcher sitting in the middle of the table. She started to get up, but Kara put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"No Lexie, sit down. I'll get it. You shouldn't be lifting heavy stuff anyway, you can only use one arm," Kara chastised gently, standing up and running her fingers lightly through Alex's hair, leaning down to kiss her before she could argue.

"A pitcher of beer is not heavy, Kar," Alex smirked, raising an eyebrow in amusement (and, okay, a little bit of enjoyment) at how protective Kara was still being over her injury. "A _bazooka_ is heavy." It was just such a relief that the blonde superhero didn't seem depressed or guilty about Alex's arm anymore, as she had been since she woke up from the Red K; right now she just seemed like her usual, loving and overprotective self, doting over Alex and just wanting to take care of her.

"Well you're not allowed to pick up one of those, either," Kara teased, leaning down and giving her fiancee one more lingering kiss. "Just keep your cute ass in that seat and let me get the beer, Lex."

"Okay, bluebird," Alex smirked back, her spirits lifted instantly just by seeing the happiness in Kara's eyes at being able to do something nice for her, even just something little. Kara loved doing little things for Alex. And Alex loved letting her. _Especially_ if it meant distracting her from the depression she'd been suffering from since she woke up from the Red K. The blonde girl beamed triumphantly and gave her fiancee one more quick kiss before walking away, back towards the bar for a fresh pitcher of beer. Alex watched her go, smiling like an idiot.

"Have I mentioned yet how happy I am that you wised up and put a ring on her finger?" Meredith asked affectionately, watching Alex watch Kara.

"Not as happy as me," Alex said simply, her dark hazel eyes glowing with affection as she stared at the blonde girl's profile, leaning against the bar talking to Joe, with her long hair hanging loose over her shoulders.

"Aww. You guys are really cute together," April gushed. "Have you set a date yet?"

 _"No._ No wedding talk. I was just starting to warm up to Little Grey here. She wants to talk about _science_. She doesn't want to talk about wedding dresses and floral arrangements," Cristina groaned. "Right?" She was looking demandingly to Alex now for confirmation.

"Uhh...I guess," Alex gave a one-sided shrug, "if I have to choose just one...and we haven't set a date yet, anyway, we haven't talked about anything, really. It's only been a couple of weeks since we got engaged. But I'm not the only person at this table with a love life, am I?" The dark-haired girl teased, looking at her cousin with a big, gleeful smirk on her face. "When do we get to meet your studly neurosurgeon boyfriend?"

"When he's not in surgery. Or on call. Or in the skills lab figuring out ways to remove inoperable tumors," Meredith rolled her eyes; but she was smiling too, clearly proud of her boyfriend's brilliance and dedication to his work. Alex recognized that look; it was the same look she got when she talked about Kara.

"Well just say the word, and we'll come running. I _can't_ leave Seattle without meeting your boyfriend, my mom will kill me if I don't have a full description ready and waiting."

 _"And_ because we need to make sure this guy is good enough for you," Kara added as she returned with a fresh pitcher of beer, plus a tray of tequila shots. She might not be able to feel the effects of alcohol herself, but it was Meredith's favorite. Everyone gave a little cheer at the unexpected round of shots, and made the first of many toasts for the night.

…...

When the last beer had been drained and the last dart had been thrown and Kara had emptied every little basket of peanuts in the bar, they all eventually drifted home; and once everyone was settled in their beds (except for Karev, who was settled on the couch and already snoring), Kara and Alex tiptoed from their room to Meredith's, eager to have some of the private conversations they hadn't been able to have before in front of the others.

"So..." Kara climbed onto Meredith's bed and sat down cross-legged in her pajamas, her eyes bright with burning curiosity as Alex plopped down next to her, and they both looked up at the older Grey expectantly. "How did you know?"

"How did I know _what?"_ Meredith teased, feigning innocence. Kara looked at Alex sideways, and rolled her eyes.

"She knows I can melt her face with my eyeballs, and she still sasses me. That's oddly comforting," the blonde girl half-smiled at her fiancee.

"It is, isn't it?" Alex grinned back, looking between her favorite blonde alien and her favorite cousin, glad that nothing had changed between the three of them. "Now answer the question, dipshit. We've been waiting all day. How did you know? How _long_ have you known? Nobody else has ever just _known_. But you knew."

"I knew," Meredith nodded thoughtfully, sitting down on the bed beside them and tucking her feet up under her. "I knew for a long time...that Kara was...different. I didn't know she was an _alien_. But then, when Supergirl appeared...for the first time, I mean...she—you—it was a plane rescue. And that just _happened_ to coincide with the squeaky-happy phone call I got from Alex the next day telling me how you kissed her, and you finally told each other how you felt, and that you were her girlfriend now...and I asked her how it happened...and she _told_ me she was in a plane crash, and you were both so freaked out it made you wake up and stop pretending not to be in love. So...the first heroic act that Supergirl ever did...was rescuing _Alex's_ plane? And you just _happened_ to have your first kiss that very same night? I may not have skipped third grade, but I'm not an idiot." The older blonde gave her cousins a satisfied smirk.

"Wow...yeah...when you put it like that, I guess _I'm_ the idiot," Alex shook her head sheepishly.

"It's okay Lexie, I'm not mad. I'm glad Mer knows," Kara smiled, scooting closer to Alex on the bed and stroking her hair lovingly.

"Yeah...me too," Alex agreed, grinning as she leaned in and gave Kara a gentle kiss. "Now our whole family knows...no more secrets."

"No more secrets," Kara agreed happily. Then she frowned.

"Wait a sec," she turned back to Meredith. "Why didn't you _talk_ to me if you knew? I would've _loved_ to know that you knew!" Kara complained, throwing a pillow at her across the bed.

"Well I _thought_ I was respecting your privacy," Meredith shrugged, taking the pillow and throwing it playfully back at Kara. "I figured if you wanted me to know, you would have told me."

"...Oh," Kara said blankly, leaning back against the headboard and taking off her glasses, realizing belatedly that there was no reason for her to bother wearing them now. "I guess I can't really argue with that..."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Meredith smirked sarcastically. "And anyway, even though I didn't always know you were an alien, I always knew the truth was _something_ big, and I didn't want to do or say anything that would ever risk your safety. I was scared you'd end up a lab rat, locked in a cage in some secret underground government facility somewhere...I thought I was protecting you." The older Grey shrugged, some of the levity leaving the room as the playful pillow-throwing and sarcasm abruptly came to a halt.

"You _were_ protecting me," Kara smiled shyly, crawling over to where Meredith sat and wrapping her up in a tight hug.

"I was protecting _both_ of you," Meredith smiled fondly back, squeezing Alex's knee after Kara released her. "If anything ever happened to you, Kar...I knew Alex would never be okay again."

"I wouldn't be okay without her either," the blonde girl smiled fondly, curling up against Alex's side and stroking her hair. Then the smile slipped from her face as her hand trailed down Alex's arm, grazing ever so lightly over her broken arm in the sling. "I did this, you know," she said quietly, staring down at the cast, unable to look Meredith in the eye while she admitted to being the one who hurt her baby cousin. "When I was poisoned. It was an accident...but I did it."

"And how many times have you saved her life?" Meredith asked gently. Alex smiled. She knew coming to Meredith had been the right choice.

"A few," the blonde girl sighed.

"A few?" Alex tickled Kara's arm, and instantly her glum look was replaced with smile that was almost too big for her face and a hysterical squeal of laughter.

"Okay, okay! I've saved your life a lot."

"Yes you have," Alex smiled triumphantly, her dark hazel eyes shining with affection. Kara settled down against her side, resting her head on Alex's shoulder, allowing the injured girl to wrap her good arm possessively around Kara's body. The blonde girl sighed deeply, and Alex could physically feel the tension draining away.

"Mer?" Kara looked up from her snug spot on Alex's shoulder without actually lifting her head. "How did you know, in the beginning? You said you knew before Supergirl. That I had a secret, that I was different. How did you know?" They both looked up at the older Grey expectantly. Meredith suppressed a small smile.

"Well...you know how people sometimes talk in their sleep? Or sleepwalk? That kind of thing?"

"Yeah," Kara said uncertainly, having no idea where this was going.

"Well, there was this one time, you'd only been in Midvale a few months...I mean, you'd only been on _earth_ a few months," she corrected, and they all smiled, sharing the giddy feeling of finally being able to tell each other everything. "And I was staying with you guys for the weekend," she looked to Alex, "because my dad was out of town on some business trip and he didn't trust me not to throw a party if I was home alone all weekend. And _you_ guys were having a sleepover. You were joined at the hip from the day she got here...you knew all along, didn't you Alex? You knew everything?"

"I knew," Alex nodded, with a satisfied little smile. "Her pod crashed in front of me in the gully. And then Superman showed up and made me promise I'd keep Kara's identity secret for the rest of my life."

"Well then I guess I can't be mad at you for holding out on me," Meredith laughed incredulously, shaking her head at this new revelation that Alex had met _Superman_ when she was thirteen years old, and she had never told _anyone._ "Anyway. We were all sleeping over, and when I said I was going up to bed, Aunt Susan asked me to check on you guys and make sure you weren't staying up late talking. And like I said, you hadn't been here very long, which means you hadn't had your powers very long, and I'm sure it took a lot of hard work to learn control..."

"Oh my _God_ , what was I doing in my sleep? Just _tell_ me already!" Kara moaned, turning beet red with embarrassment even though she still didn't actually know what Meredith saw.

"Oh, nothing terrible. Just sleeping on top of the covers. About _three feet_ on top of the covers." Meredith smiled giddily, surprised at how good it felt to finally tell Kara and Alex everything she knew.

"I was levitating in my sleep?" Kara asked, dumbfounded. "I didn't know I did that."

"You _don't_ do that!" Alex exclaimed in surprise, with a laugh.

"Well she did it that night," Meredith shrugged.

"It must've been a short-term thing, because I don't even remember that at _all_ ," Alex shook her head.

"So, you saw me floating three feet above the bed...and you didn't scream? You didn't freak out at all? You just closed the door and thought, _okay, Kara can float,_ and went to bed?" The blonde girl raised an eyebrow quizzically. It seemed like the kind of sight that would make a person spazz out purely on reflex.

"I had a moment...a moment of total shock and awe," Meredith admitted, her eyes getting a faraway look as she remembered. "I just kept thinking, _what I am looking at is not possible; but it must be possible because I am looking at it_. I _did_ freak out for a minute. Just, you know, intellectually."

"Definitely a Grey," Kara smirked, nuzzling into Alex's shoulder affectionately. "My little brainiancs."

"So what made you stop freaking out?" Alex asked, playing with Kara's hair absently.

"Honestly? You."

"Me?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't I sleeping too?"

"Yeah. And even though you were in the bed and she was floating three feet above it...you were still holding hands. Kara was just floating there, like there was an invisible cloud holding her up, but her arm was still hanging down to touch your hand...and _your_ arm was stretched out across her side of the bed to reach _her_ hand...it just broke my heart somehow, looking at the two of you sleep together. You made each other so happy. From the day she first got here, she made you happy, Alex. What else mattered? I couldn't bear to let anyone come and take her away from you." Meredith smiled at them. Alex smiled back. Kara burst into tears.

"You're the best cousin in the whole world," the blonde girl sobbed as she threw herself into Meredith's arms and hugged her. "And...you know...my other cousin is Superman."


	18. Rise Up

Hi Supergang!

A/N: For anyone who didn't read chapter 1, _kri-zhao_ is Kryptonese and it literally means "bright love," I'm using it to mean a soulmate bond. There's one other Kryptonese word in this chap, _zrhueiao,_ which I've also used in a couple of earlier chapters. It literally means "lovely" (in the the romantic sense, not like "oh what a lovely day"), but I'm translating it idiomatically to mean "my love," as a term of endearment. These _are_ words from an online Kryptonese dictionary, but I'm making my own phrases cuz this is a made-up, incomplete language. So I'm taking some liberties for the sake of having some Kryptonese thrown in to make it more real.

Also, Alex's song is an adaptation of a Welsh lullaby called "All Through the Night," written by Edward Jones in 1784. I adapted it to be Kryptonian, and since the way they speak there is so formal and old-fashioned, I figured their music would be too.

Enjoy the chap! And don't forget to give me your feedback pplz! I need to hear from you to know if I should keep going ;)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 18: Rise Up**

…...

"Are you sure you're ready to go back to work, Lexie? It was supposed to be two _months_ medical leave, not two weeks," Kara fretted anxiously, as she gently helped Alex slip her arm into the sling and loop it over her shoulder after she'd finished getting dressed. Alex didn't _need_ help putting on the sling, but she knew it made Kara feel better to do it.

"It _is_ two months medical leave, Kar. From field work. Not _all_ work," Alex reminded her doting blonde alien gently, running her free hand through Kara's long hair and giving it an affectionate little tug. "C'mon now, we spent a week with Meredith, we spent another week at home binging on Netflix and raw cookie dough...and all of that was awesome, but if I don't get back to doing stuff soon, I'm going to lose my shit. There is absolutely no reason why I can't sit in my lab and analyze data. I didn't break my _brain_ ," the dark-haired girl teased gently. Kara smiled reluctantly, her fingers still tracing lightly up and down the sling covering Alex's arm.

"You'll still be at the DEO. What if there's a containment breach, like in the earthquake? What if a prisoner gets loose? You could still get hurt," Kara sighed, looking up from the sling, finally, into the loving hazel eyes looking back at her.

"I can handle myself, bluebird. You know that. You never doubted me before." Alex slipped her hand into Kara's and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I'm not doubting you!" Kara exclaimed, wide-eyed with surprise. That wasn't what she'd meant at all. "I'm just...scared," she admitted quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

"Don't be scared, _zrhueiao,"_ Alex murmured, leaning in and pressing her forehead to Kara's, the way they'd comforted each other since they were kids; then she leaned in the final few inches to kiss her. They hadn't done _that_ when they were kids. Alex could feel Kara's body relaxing from head to toe with the gentle kiss, all her tense muscles slowly going limp. "We had a scare...life is scary," the dark-haired girl sighed. "But it's over now, and it's time to get back to our regular old routine. If things get hairy down in the trenches, I'll have Hank and a heavily-armed paramilitary fleet to watch my back. Besides, aren't you a _little_ bit eager to get back to CatCo too, hmm babe? I know you, and you're not going to _really_ feel like yourself again until you get back to _your_ real life. We're both okay, bluebird. We really are. Have I ever lied to you?" Alex's dark eyes sparkled as she gave Kara her biggest, brightest smile. The blonde girl tried not to smile back, but her lips betrayed her and smiled anyway. She rolled her eyes with a small huff that Alex knew meant _okay, you win,_ without Kara actually having to say it.

Instead, Kara slipped both her hands into Alex's hair and kissed her again, more deeply this time. "I'm okay with you always being right, you know..." the blonde girl sighed against her fiancee's lips as they pulled apart, foreheads still leaning together. "As long as you're still here in fifty years to tell me."

"Don't worry, I will be," Alex smirked, making that cute little crinkle above her nose that just made Kara's bones turn to jelly. If Alex was happy, Kara couldn't stay sad. "You can't lose me, Kar. You know that. I'm your _kri-zhao_...and you're mine. If our love were any brighter, we'd outshine every sun from here to the next galaxy. Bad guys can't hurt that...they just bounce right off again." Kara laughed and shook her head.

"I think I need one more demonstration," the blonde girl murmured playfully, a crooked grin spreading across her face as she leaned into Alex's lips again.

"Just one more?" Alex giggled, teasing.

"Mm-hmm," Kara hummed.

"Gonna be late for work..."

"Mm-hmm," Kara agreed, cupping Alex's face in one hand and kissing her thoroughly.

…...

In the end, Kara was fifteen minutes late to the office on her first day back; and for once Ms. Grant had absolutely nothing to say about it. Other than a "welcome back" that actually sounded sincere, the blonde boss lady dove straight into business as usual, refraining from asking Kara how she was feeling since the Red K. Kara was incredibly grateful for this. She didn't want to talk about what happened anymore, Alex was right that she wouldn't feel like herself until she got back to her normal life. She needed to be normal today. And somehow, Ms. Grant seemed to know that. Winn and Lucy both hugged her when they saw her in the break room and told her how glad they were that she was back; but they didn't bring up any Supergirl stuff either. Then again, that may have just been due to the fact that they were standing in the middle of a crowded, public place. Still, she appreciated it.

All things considered, Kara got through her first day back at CatCo relatively smoothly. She still didn't _feel_ normal, though. She was going through the motions of her normal work routine, but every time she looked over at Ms. Grant, she got a two-second, traumatized flashback to the moment when she'd thrown her boss off the balcony; and when she looked at Winn, she flashed back to the blank look of hurt and shock on her best friend's face when she'd said to him, _you know I am never, ever going to fuck you, right?_ He'd forgiven her too, just like Ms. Grant, just like Alex; but Kara still couldn't stop reliving it all every time she looked at them. The fact that none of it was her fault didn't change anything for her. She was the one who did it. She caused her loved ones this pain.

But she tried to push on, she tried to focus on what was right in front of her so her mind wouldn't have the chance to wander. Alex had been right, going back to work _was_ helping take her mind off things and get back to what mattered. They still had Myriad to contend with, and they still knew basically squat about it, even after having Astra in their custody for nearly three weeks. Kara remembered what Meredith had said back in Seattle, about always looking forward to the next life you can save. Of course, she was talking about being a surgeon; but really the truth of it was the same for Kara. She still had a whole planet to save from Myriad. That is, if the people of earth still _wanted_ her protection. She hadn't put on her Supergirl suit since the Red K incident. Even after the heart-wrenching TV interview she'd done with Ms. Grant, that would probably win an Emmy or something, she was still terrified that the whole world had lost faith in her; terrified to put the suit back on and see people running _away_ from her, rather than running _to_ her for protection.

"Kara!" Carter's enthusiastic voice cut through the blonde girl's inner monologue of self-hatred as she sat mindlessly filling out paperwork at her desk. "I missed you!" The little boy dropped his backpack in the middle of the lobby and ran to Kara's desk, throwing his arms around her waist as she stood up to greet him.

"Whoa! Hey buddy. I missed you too," Kara smiled warmly, distracted from her depressing thoughts by her favorite ten-year-old.

"Is Alex okay? Mom told me she got hurt. She said that's why you were gone, cuz you had to take care of Alex. She'll be okay, right?"

"Alex is okay. She's back at work today, too; just in the lab though. It'll take a couple of months for her broken arm to heal, then she can get back out in the field." Kara ruffled Carter's hair affectionately. For several months, before the Red K happened, she'd been picking him up from school occasionally, sometimes seeing him at the office when he did his homework at CatCo before going home with his mom; and she and Alex still babysat him from time to time, though thankfully none as eventful as the first time, with the Red Tornado android attack and the bomb on the Supertrain all in one day.

"I broke my arm two years ago and I only had to have my cast for three weeks," Carter remarked innocently, like he thought he could bargain on Alex's behalf for a shorter sentence.

"Yeah, well this was...a bad break," Kara sighed, unable to think of anything else to say that wouldn't alarm the kid rather than reassure him. "It'll take a little bit longer to heal than yours did."

"But she'll still be okay," Carter reiterated, and for a second Kara saw a strong flash of Ms. Grant in her son; the way he somehow managed to ask a question, and make it sound like a command. It was cute, and it warmed her to see how concerned he was for Alex's welfare.

"She'll be better than okay. Don't you worry." Kara squeezed the blonde boy's shoulder affectionately. Then they both looked up at one of the many TVs mounted around the CatCo executive floor, both of their attention caught by the word _Supergirl_.

"...Where was she last week when National City Mutual was robbed?" One news pundit was saying to the other. "The fact is, no one's seen so much as a glimpse of that red cape since she went crazy and started blowing things up, then did that interview with Cat Grant saying it wasn't her fault."

"So you don't think she was telling the truth in the interview? You don't believe she was poisoned?" The other pundit parried back.

"Well if she was, then where is she now? It's been two weeks!" The first guy said, shaking his head skeptically. "What, did she wake up from being evil and decide it was a good time for a Caribbean cruise?"

"Shut up, butt face!" Carter yelled at the TV, loud enough to startle a couple of people walking by.

"Carter! Inside voices," Kara said gently, but with a small smile. It warmed her heart to see that at least _one_ person still had unflinching faith in Supergirl.

"Just 'cuz some news guy gets paid a kajillion dollars to sit in front of a camera and say his opinion, doesn't mean he's right," Carter fumed, tearing his eyes away from the TV to look back at Kara indignantly. "Supergirl wouldn't lie to the whole world! _Especially_ not to my mom. They know each other, they're friends. It's not fair for people to be mad about what she did when she was poisoned, she couldn't help it. And if something like that happened to _me_ , I'd sure be upset for a while. She should get to have a break like everybody else. Aliens are people, too." The little boy raised one eyebrow in slight concern when he saw Kara break into a huge smile, while simultaneously looking like she was about to cry.

"Kara? Um...are you okay?" Carter asked hesitantly. Kara took a deep breath and nodded, quickly wiping her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks, Carter. Y'know, I was just about to take a coffee break...but how about an ice cream break instead?" Her smile looked like her own again, and the ten-year-old smiled back.

"Yessss!"

…...

"Knock knock. Did someone here order room service?" Kara grinned playfully as she leaned against the doorway to Alex's lab, holding a big bag of takeout in one hand. Alex looked up from her microscope, smiling back in surprise at the blonde girl standing in her doorway.

"Aww, you didn't have to bring me dinner," the young agent shook her head, but her happy expression clearly said otherwise.

"Mm-hmm. I bet you missed lunch, too?" Kara raised an eyebrow knowingly, looking at the tall pile of case files on Alex's desk next to the microscope. "You know you don't have to catch up on everything you missed in the last two weeks _today,_ right? You do know that? You were on medical leave, not vacation."

"I know, I know. And I _didn't_ skip lunch, thank you very much," Alex smirked, looking very self-satisfied. Kara just stared at her in silence, cocking her head to one side expectantly.

"Okay, okay," Alex sighed, rolling her eyes with a sheepish grin. "Hank brought me lunch. I was in my science bubble, Kar. I forgot about food. My science bubble is a _happy_ place. It's not stressful. I'm not sitting here with this big pile of cases because I'm worried about missing a deadline. I _like_ doing this," the dark-haired girl grinned, crossing the room to pull her overprotective little alien inside.

"...But now that I popped the happy science bubble..." Kara prompted expectantly with a kiss, dropping the takeout bag down on the desk.

"...I realize I'm freaking starving," Alex finished, unashamed as she tore into the takeout bag with her good hand. "Ooh, pizza! Perfect food for the one-handed gimp," she teased, smiling broadly as she took a slice.

"And I got your favorite weird soda, too," Kara teased gently back, holding up the can and then opening it for her, since that really did require two hands.

"Cream soda is not weird," Alex said insistently, but still smiling as she put the pizza slice down so she could take a gulp.

"It is if they don't have it in soda fountains or vending machines. Have you _ever_ seen cream soda in a soda fountain, like _anywhere?_ No. Because it's weird. And it doesn't even have any cream in it! Which makes it even weirder!" They were giggling and teasing each other now; they'd had this playful debate a million times before.

"Well thank you for getting me my weird soda, bluebird." Alex leaned in and gave Kara a slow, teasing kiss.

"Hmm...anything for you, Lex," Kara grinned contentedly when Alex pulled away, savoring the kiss with a sigh. "But I'm still drinking Coke like a normal person." She held up another soda from the bag. Alex threw a crumpled-up napkin at her and called her a brat. Kara responded with _I'm the brat who brought you pizza_ , which there was no good reply for other than _thank you, baby_.

…...

After the pizza was gone, Kara had no illusions that Alex could be convinced to leave her happy science bubble for the night; she was so excited to be back at work, Kara didn't have the heart to argue with her. Alex assured her that she didn't have to stay; it was true that the dark-haired girl couldn't drive with her broken arm, but now that she was restored to active duty with a medical restriction, she had an entire fleet of black ops soldiers and unmarked vehicles to pick her up and drop her off whenever she needed, so she didn't have to rely on Kara to get around.

"No, I'll stay...I kind of have something here I've been wanting to do," the blonde girl said shyly, looking down at her hands. Alex's happy science bubble popped again at the sound of Kara's voice; it was hesitant, vulnerable. Uncertain.

"Yeah? Do you wanna tell me?" Alex asked gently, sitting back from her microscope again.

"It's silly..." Kara blushed and shook her head. She was still avoiding eye contact.

"So silly you can't look at me?" the young agent hopped off her stool and walked around the desk to where Kara sat, and tilted her chin up. The blonde girl smiled a little sadly.

"Ever since we got engaged...and you gave me the most special ring in the galaxy..." They grinned shyly at each other for a moment. "I've been wanting to show Aunt Astra. I know it's stupid, she's an intergalactic criminal..."

"...Who happened to tell you bedtime stories on Krypton," Alex finished, stroking her love's long blonde hair with tender fingers. "I get it...she's part of who you are, no matter what she's done. She's the only living link to your past. And she loves you, Kara...she does. She could have killed you so many times, but she didn't. She _couldn't._ She didn't even kill _me_ when she had the chance, because she didn't want you to have to lose me. She helped us save you from the black mercy...there was no logical reason for her to do any of those things."

 _"And_ she's planning to enslave the entire human race...which includes you," Kara sighed, shaking her head at the conflicting emotions she felt toward her aunt.

"Well, yeah. There's that." Alex smiled sympathetically, and pulled Kara in for a kiss. "Go talk to her, bluebird. Just for tonight, you can be a regular, happy person in love, showing off her totally awesome and literally irreplaceable engagement ring to her favorite aunt." Alex smiled brightly. Kara gave a little snort of laughter.

"You always know what to say," the blonde girl shook her head.

"Only when I'm with you," Alex shrugged.

"Well then I guess you better marry me, huh?" the blonde superhero smirked, wrapping both arms around her fiancee's neck and kissing her again.

"Guess I better," Alex agreed contentedly. "Go on, baby. I'll be right here if you need me."

"'Kay," Kara nodded, giving Alex one last kiss for courage. Then she left the lab, slowly making her way toward the prisoner bay. The guards at Astra's cell door nodded to her respectfully when she approached, and didn't even bother asking to see her clearance. Kara was grateful, because it was the first time they'd ever seen her out of her uniform, and everyone knew she was on medical leave from the DEO right now pending a psych evaluation; but they also knew that Astra was her aunt. And if Supergirl wanted to speak to her aunt, whether she had official DEO business or not, they weren't going to stand in her way.

The doors opened, and there was Astra, sitting calmly in the middle of her cell, apparently meditating. "Kara. I've missed you," she said quietly as she opened her eyes.

"I've missed you too," Kara replied with a sad smile.

"You look so strange in earthling clothes," Astra nodded towards her niece, looking over her jeans and tank top (she'd changed out of her work clothes before picking up the pizza). And Astra had only seen her in her Supergirl suit.

"I've been dressed in human clothes every day for the past twelve and a half years," Kara shrugged, looking down at her sneakers, then back up at her aunt again. "You're the one who looks strange to _me_ now."

"The humans may have taken you in, but that doesn't mean you belong with them, Kara," Astra said evenly, returning her niece's cool eye contact.

"Does this?" Kara asked in a small, shy voice, as she held out her hand and showed her aunt her engagement ring. Her Kryptonian, _kri-zhao_ engagement ring, reserved for the lucky few who found a true soulmate and didn't have to rely on their families to arrange an appropriate marriage. Astra gave a little gasp and smiled hugely, totally on reflex, her face lit up with happiness for her niece. And for that moment, Kara felt a surge of euphoria, like no time had passed and nothing had changed between them from her childhood, and everything was exactly as it should be.

"Where did you get that? This is a _kri-zhao_ ring," Astra exclaimed in shock.

"I know that."

"Your brave one gave you this? She could not possibly gain access to a lost treasure so precious."

"She...well, she didn't _make_ it exactly, but she had it made for me. We're getting married. She's my _kri-zhao_ , Aunt Astra. She was from the moment I stepped out of my pod when I was thirteen years old. I just...wanted to show you." Kara's blue eyes were wide and vulnerable as she looked up expectantly at her aunt, waiting to see her reaction. A few silent seconds passed that felt like hours. "So...do you still want to make the entire human race your slaves? Including my _kri-zhao?"_

"Sweet Kara..." Astra sighed. "If only things were so simple."

"They _are_ that simple. You can change your mind, Aunt Astra. You can _always_ change your mind. Tell me about Myriad...tell me how to stop it." This wasn't what she'd planned to talk about when she'd come in; but now that they were face-to-face, and Kara was showing her aunt that she had a home and a future and a _soulmate_ here on this 'primitive' planet, it seemed like utter pretense to try to talk about anything else.

"Myriad cannot be stopped, my sweet one. You have your mother's optimism...but you are blinded to the grim reality of this planet's fate, just as your mother was on Krypton. If only she had listened to me then...we might still be home in Argo City."

"If it can't be stopped, why don't you just tell me?" Kara asked desperately, her eyes filling up with tears that she refused to let fall. Astra sighed, and held up her hand against the glass wall of her cell, just as she had the first time Kara came to see her here. Kara held up her hand and pressed it against the glass too, even though it made her dizzy and nauseous from the low level Kryptonite radiation that kept her aunt powerless inside her cell.

"Myriad was meant for Krypton, Kara. It's the reason your mother banished her own twin sister to the phantom zone," Astra said, her voice slow and deliberate, never looking away from her niece's sharp blue eyes. "Now this planet is in the same danger; its people are exploiting the environment past the point of sustainability. Left unchecked, it will be uninhabitable within your lifetime, sweet Kara. The humans have had this information for decades, yet they do virtually nothing to prevent their own imminent doom. Just like on Krypton, the politicians will continue to argue until it is too late. Myriad will put an end to all the divisiveness, all petty bickering; there will be no more racial lines, no Republicans, no Democrats. Only one people united in one goal, to save the world. None will resist. And this planet that you love so much will be saved." Astra smiled hopefully at her niece, desperate for her understanding.

"To be inhabited by a population of mindless slave-drones?" Kara asked, shaking her head in horror. "That's not a life, Aunt Astra. You know it isn't. It's a nightmare."

"It is a better life than no life at all," the older woman countered, a note of desperation in her voice, like maybe she was trying to convince herself as well as Kara.

"But those _aren't_ the only choices," Kara shook her head, still holding her hand up to her aunt's through the glass even though the radiation was making her feel sick. "We _can_ save this planet, we _can_ change the world. But not like this. Not by force. Let the people of Earth _learn_ from Krypton, let them see what we did to our world. Let them _choose_ to save themselves. Let _us_ choose to save ourselves. For the love of Rao, Aunt Astra...please. Just tell me." Tears were sliding down Kara's face now, though she was trying hard to keep her composure.

"You cannot stop it," Astra shook her head again, her voice sad and resigned now rather than smug. "But I will tell you everything, my sweet one...soon enough you will see it for yourself." The older woman began explaining to Kara how Myriad worked, how her army had planted their mind-control devices under every Lord Tech satellite on earth; and when they all synched up and activated, carried by Lord Tech's satellite signals to every corner of the globe, the new world order would begin.

…...

Kara still had shocked tears glittering in her eyes when the glowing green lights of concentrated kryptonite radiation suddenly flooded the entire room, sending blinding waves of pain vibrating through her body that were so intense, her knees gave out from under her, and she fell to the floor in a heap next to her aunt's cell with a gasp that knocked all the wind out of her. Inside the glass, Astra was in a similar state. Before Kara even had a chance to push through the pain enough to form a coherent thought, General Lane marched in, looking more smug and satisfied than ever before, with three soldiers marching behind him. One of them was carrying a long, glowing green sword that made Kara feel even weaker and sicker the closer it came to her.

"Thanks for the intel, Supergirl," the pompous general said snidely to the girl trembling in pain on the floor, as the small military entourage approached the cell. "Now we don't have to waste any more of our precious resources keeping this dangerous alien terrorist as a prisoner." Kara rubbed her hazy eyes with one shaking hand, feeling hot and cold all at once, sweaty and dizzy, like the time she was sick with a fever when she blew out her powers. But this was even worse than that. It was worse than any of the other times she'd been exposed to kryptonite. The General must have turned the containment field levels all the way up to the very highest setting to debilitate her this much.

"No...you _can't_..." Kara panted, realizing even through the haze of agony coursing through her body what the general intended to do, and cursing herself for not realizing that the room would of _course_ be bugged as long as General Lane was in charge. Now that they had all the information about Myriad, they didn't need Astra as a prisoner anymore; so they were just going to execute her. With every ounce of willpower she had, Kara crawled on her hands and knees until she was right in front of the door to Astra's cell, and collapsed there, blocking the door with her panting body. The General snickered to himself, amused and smug to see Supergirl so helpless for a change.

But Kara wasn't done yet; she tapped her bluetooth earring with one trembling hand. "Alex..." she croaked out in a rough whisper, turning to look at her aunt through the glass, who was looking back at her just as desperately, rendered speechless by the pain. "Help us..." She barely heard Alex's answer; her senses were going in and out of focus, and she knew she was going to black out soon. But she _couldn't._ She just had to hold on a little longer. Alex was coming.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" J'onn's deep voice boomed as he strode purposefully into the room with Alex at his heels. A half-dozen more DEO operatives streamed in behind them. Alex ran straight to Kara, putting herself between her _kri-zhao_ and the kryptonite-laden soldiers, her dark hazel eyes blazing with a protective fury.

"I'm running this operation, Henshaw. _I'm_ the one who asks the questions around here," the general barked. "Now get your agents out of here, and take Supergirl with you if you know what's good for her. The alien terrorist has fulfilled her usefulness, and now it's time to rid the world of her menace once and for all."

"What?" Alex gasped in horror, looking up from the floor where she was kneeling protectively in front of Kara, and taking in the long kryptonite sword the soldier next to General Lane held. "You can't _do_ that! We're government agents, General Lane, we're not executioners! We _don't_ violate the Constitution, not ever. There's been no trial, no due process. This isn't a conviction; it's murder."

"You have the audacity to tell _me_ about the US Constitution? I was protecting this country from terrorist threats when you were in diapers!" the general roared furiously. "The Constitution, Agent Grey, applies to _people_. Not aliens. Now stand aside before my men have to remove you by force. You want to use that arm again?" He gestured to her sling. "Don't make my men break it all over again."

"Aliens are people too," Alex said stonily, her free hand gripping Kara's tightly. "You'll have to kill me to get past this door."

"This is treason," the general snarled. "Hernandez! Take them out!" When his soldier remained motionless, General Lane looked back at him furiously.

"Supergirl saved my life, sir," the man shook his head. "I'm not laying a hand on her."

"That's right, you're not," J'onn said stonily to the young soldier, as the half-dozen black-clad DEO agents swarmed around the general's men, to stand in a protective formation in front of Alex and Kara at Astra's cell door.

"I don't believe this! I'll have every one of your badges!" The general bellowed, his face going beet red. "McAdams! Arrest these insurrectionists!" But the other soldier didn't move, either.

"Sir...I don't think..." the young man shook his head uncertainly, clasping his hands behind his back to show he meant to harm.

"You are not paid to _think,_ son! This is the United States military! You are here to follow orders! If you can't do that, I'll arrest you myself along with the rest of them!"

"Agent Grey is right, sir," the young soldier said respectfully, keeping cool eye contact with the red-faced general. "We aren't executioners. We kill only when we have no choice. In battle. We don't walk into prisoner cells and murder them on their knees."

"Oh, for the love of Christ!" the general snapped, yanking the kryptonite sword from the third soldier's grip. He marched purposefully toward the small crowd blocking Astra's door, intent on hurling each human being aside before doing the job he'd come here to do. If Supergirl continued to get in the way, he'd take her out, too, as a collaborator.

"Stand down, General. Before I put you down." J'onn stepped in front of the general, calm but focused.

"Hank, no, don't," Alex begged, realizing what he was about to do. He looked down and winked at her. Then he transformed into his true shape, growing taller and taller as his dark skin turned green, and his eyes red.

"Aliens are people, too," he said simply, standing protectively over Kara and Alex. Everyone else in the room just goggled at him. General Lane's expression finally changed, from red-faced fury, to bone-white terror.

"The President will hear about this," he spluttered furiously, slamming the kryptonite sword back into its metal sheath as he turned and walked out.

"Damn right she will!" Alex yelled after him.

…...

It was hours later when Astra woke rather suddenly with a jolt of shock, her memory hazy and her surroundings unfamiliar. She was on a flat plastic table that glowed bright as this planet's yellow sun; there were more glowing panels on her sides and over her head. Were they...healing her? She tried to think of the last thing she remembered...Kara. She had been speaking with her sweet niece, had seen her heartbreakingly beautiful engagement ring, from the brave one. Alex. And then...Myriad...and then pain beyond all words. The physical memory made her body twitch, and she realized her wrists and ankles were cuffed to the table with kryptonite-lined restrains. They weren't painful, it was only enough to keep her from breaking free. They _were_ healing her, but she was still their prisoner. Humans had done this to her...but humans had also saved her.

Astra's musings were interrupted when her attention was caught by Kara and Alex, on the other sunbed across the room. They hadn't noticed she was awake; she'd only just opened her eyes, and she'd barely moved. The two young women were totally consumed in a world of only each other; Alex was lying on her back on the sunbed, since she couldn't lie in any other position with her broken arm; and Kara was curled up on top of her, whimpering softly with her face hidden against the dark-haired girl's neck. Alex's good hand was running slowly, methodically, through Kara's long blonde hair; and she was singing softly. Astra couldn't believe her ears: the brave one was singing a Kryptonian lullaby, one she herself had sung to Kara when she was very young. It was an ancient song, passed down from generation to generation; and now, Astra realized, they had the chance to keep that heritage alive, pass it down to another generation, even if Krypton was gone. It was still alive in Kara and Alex; it could be alive in their children some day.

"Sleep, my _zrhueiao_ , and peace attend thee, all through the night..." Alex sang softly. She had replaced the word for _beloved child_ with her romantic beloved, _zrhueiao;_ she spoke Kryptonese, at least a little. For Kara's sake, no doubt. She had a beautiful voice, and it was obviously giving Kara great comfort as her whimpers tapered off, and she burrowed deeper into her beloved, pressing her face into Alex's dark hair and cuddling up snugly against her. "Guardians of light, great Rao will send thee, all through the night...soft the drowsy hours are creeping, hill and dale in slumber sleeping...I my loved one's watch am keeping, all through the night..."

"I will help you stop Myriad," Astra croaked out in a hoarse voice, rough from the screams of agony she'd endured in the kryptonite-filled cell. She wasn't sure if they heard her or not before she passed out again under the sunlamps.


	19. Safe Space

Hello Supergang!

 **Kryptonese note:** The Kryptonian parental blessing in this chap comes from a translation of the original blessing Jor-El gave baby Kal-El (ya know, Superman) before sending him to earth in the original 1978 Superman movie, and can be found on the Kryptonese dictionary website. I stuck a couple of new Kryptonese words in this chap too; the meaning will be clear in the context. As far as authenticity, again, I have cobbled my phrasing together using words from the aforementioned adorable dorky online Kryptonese dictionary.

Lastly, Alex's song is Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. She sang it to Kara in chapter 4 too. It's kind of their song. :)

XOXO,

—JW

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 19: Safe Space**

…...

When Kara woke up and Alex wasn't lying next to her on the sunbed, she nose-dived straight into a confused, half-asleep, PTSD-triggered panic attack. The black mercy, the red kryptonite poisoning, hurting Alex...finally learning the whole truth of Myriad...and then being slammed with the worst, most intense kryptonite exposure she had ever experienced...at the hands of a decorated military officer, no less...being jeered at and told she had no constitutional rights, while she was writhing on the floor in pain...it was all just too much, and the universe was a giant, scary abyss, and she was all alone in the middle of it.

Heart pounding like a hammer in her throat, Kara jumped off the sunbed like she'd been jolted with live electricity; but her knees were still weak, she wasn't done recharging yet, and she stumbled to the floor again, just like she had in Astra's cell. Trembling with confused, trauma-fueled adrenalin, she curled up on the floor and sobbed, hands over her face in a defensive pose, like an abused child waiting for the next punch.

"Kara?" The blonde girl's crying had roused her aunt, who was still cuffed to the other sunbed with kryptonite-lined restraints. "Why do you weep, sweet child? You are safe now, you will be well again soon." Astra's voice was soothing, but it wasn't the voice Kara was looking for. There was only one person who had ever known how to comfort her when she was really and truly having a PTSD attack, reliving vivid memories of seeing her planet explode into the endless blackness of space, or waking up briefly in the phantom zone, so profoundly alone and helpless that there were no words to express it.

"Lexie..." Kara whimpered, her voice a choked whisper behind her hands. "Lexie, I need you..." As if by psychic force, Alex came racing back to the sunroom mere moments later, literally running, like she already knew something was wrong.

"Hey, hey, I'm here bluebird, I'm right here, I got you..." Alex skidded down to the floor on her knees, wishing more than ever that she could tear the sling off and wrap both arms around her baby. Kara just climbed into Alex's lap and latched both arms snugly around her, shaking and sobbing into her dark hair. Alex kept her left hand snugly threaded through Kara's blonde hair at the back of her neck, gently rocking her and whispering words of love and devotion. Astra just watched in silence, more alert now than she was the first time she briefly woke up on the sunbed a few hours ago. She could not help but see the truth of her niece's _kri-zhao_ as she looked at them...there was a wholeness, they fit into each other's hearts like puzzle pieces.

Eventually, Kara's hysteria drained away, leaving her limp and exhausted all over again, her face hot with tears against Alex's neck. "I'm sorry," Kara whispered, her voice still wobbly as she sniffled softly.

"Please don't say that, Kar, please...don't be sorry," Alex murmured, pulling back just enough to tilt Kara's chin up, to look into her teary blue eyes. Kara could have refused the movement if she wanted to; but she didn't want to. She wanted to let Alex be in charge of her right now, because she didn't feel like she could be in charge of herself. She just felt vulnerable, and lost, and scared...and Alex was the only one who could protect her from those things. That was her _kri-zhao's_ superpower.

So she let Alex tilt her face up, and slowly kiss the tears away, one by one. "You don't have to be super all the time, _zrhueiao_. You can fall apart if you need to. I'll be right here to put you back together again," Alex hummed tenderly, her hand never leaving Kara's hair.

"Forever and always?" Kara croaked softly, resting her forehead against Alex's with a soft sigh.

"Forever and always," Alex agreed, with a smile in her voice. It had been a long time since Kara had asked her that, those exact words...she used to say it a lot when they were kids, when she was first coming to terms with her PTSD and the trauma of being orphaned not just by her parents, but by her whole world; and she needed reminding, over and over, that Alex wasn't going to leave her and wasn't going to die. She hadn't understood the feelings at first, when they would come to the surface out of nowhere; they were so big and dark and scary, and she was just a kid trying to fit in with a whole new planet. She pushed away the grief and the terror anytime they would start to creep up on her. _Don't think about that,_ she would tell herself firmly, anytime the image of Krypton exploding flashed across her mind, squeezing her heart like a vice. There was always something to distract her, something new to learn about life on earth; or if all else failed, she could always just start a tickle fight with Alex.

But eventually, Kara experienced a trigger she couldn't run away from, and couldn't push down: her first earthquake. It was a relatively minor one, for California; but no one had warned fourteen-year-old Kara about earthquakes, there was no equivalent phenomenon on Krypton, and they hadn't yet studied tectonic plate shifts in science class at Midvale Junior High. All Kara knew, in that moment, was that the world was literally falling apart. _Again._

…...

Alex was studying on her bed when the house suddenly started to shake, and narrowly missed being hit by one of her big bookshelves as she stumbled into the doorway, bracing herself there so she was stable and safe from falling objects. It lasted just long enough for the tough, unflappable fourteen-year-old to start to get genuinely freaked out; and then just like that, it stopped.

"Whoa," Alex muttered to herself, weirdly impressed by the quake now that it was over. She felt, briefly, like she'd just gotten off a really incredible roller-coaster. Then her heart skipped a beat, and she ran to the phone, praying the landlines weren't down, because Kara's foster parents still didn't let her have a cell. As it rang, she sighed with relief, and her clenched heart started beating again. She heard her parents calling for her, and she yelled down the hall distractedly, "I'm fine! It's all good!"

Finally, Kara's foster mom answered. "Hi Dr. Danvers, is Kara okay? Can I talk to her?" Alex didn't bother introducing herself because she knew Eliza knew the sound of her voice; she called their house pretty much every day.

"Alex, sweetie, I'm glad you called," Eliza Danvers sighed, and Alex already knew her gut-check was right; Kara wasn't okay. She was already fishing around the debris of her room for her shoes while she held the phone.

"Can I talk to her?" Alex asked again urgently.

"We can try...but I'm not sure if she'll take the phone. She's hiding under her bed crying, I can't get her to talk to me. We might just have to let her be for a while," Eliza explained gently.

"Please just let me try," Alex begged. She knew Kara needed her. She just knew. Her heart was turning inside out on itself with the certainty of knowing it. She heard, distantly, the sound of the blonde alien girl's muffled sobbing, and Eliza's voice saying, _honey, do you want to talk to Alex?_ There was no audible reply, but Kara must have nodded or reached for the phone, or something, because a moment later her sobbing was right in Alex's ear.

The dark-haired girl could hear her best friend trying to calm down, trying to slow her breathing. For the first time, Alex wished from the bottom of her soul that _she_ had superpowers, so she could rocket to her best friend's side instantly. "Hey bluebird," she murmured gently, trying to pour all her love for her sweet little alien into her voice. "You're gonna be okay, you're just having a panic attack, it's going to pass. I promise," Alex swore, tying her shoelaces and stepping across the debris of fallen books and furniture, and climbing out of her room. "I'm coming over right now, okay Kar? Do you want me to come over?"

"Y-y-yes," Kara whispered brokenly, her voice rough and shallow with tears.

"Okay, baby girl. Just hang on, I'm coming. Everyone is safe, Kara. Say it back to me." Alex waited patiently while Kara choked on her tears, whimpering like she'd just been thrown flat on her back and had all the wind knocked out of her.

"Ev... _*snf*_...everyone...is...s-s-safe," Kara sniffled, her voice still breathless and panicky.

"Say it again," Alex hummed soothingly.

"Everyone...is s-s-safe... _sh_ _eh_ _dim voi_..." Kara was unconsciously drifting into Kryptonese; she was shellshocked, lost in the blackness of space inside herself, the frightening memories she'd been avoiding for a year all crashing down on her at once.

 _"Shehdim voi,"_ Alex repeated back to her a little awkwardly, hoping it would give Kara something to hold onto, to anchor her, to help her feel that Alex was already there with her; because really she was.

"Lexie..." Kara whimpered. "Please..."

"I'm coming right now, bluebird. I'm coming. Just keep breathing, and let Eliza hold your hand until I get there, all right? I swear I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Please don't hang up," Kara whispered, the tears welling up in her shaking voice again. "Please Lexie..."

"I'm not leaving you Kar, I'm right here, I'll be holding your hand in five minutes. But I can't keep holding the phone and ride my bike at the same time, honey. You're gonna be okay. Tell me your parents' blessing, the one they gave you when they put you in your pod. I'll have my phone in my pocket, I can still hear you. Just keep talking to me, okay?"

"Oh-k-kay," Kara agreed with another tearful sniffle. "You...you will travel far, my little one..." She trailed off and started crying again. She had never repeated these words to anyone but Alex, and it was just one time, and it made her cry then, too. Alex didn't want to make her sweet Kara cry...but she knew the blonde girl would never really begin to heal until she faced her pain, the reality of her loss...because underneath that, her parents' love was still with her, and she deserved to be able to hold onto that, to feel the love that had travelled with her across the galaxy.

"But we will never leave you..." Alex prompted. She had only heard the words once, but she would never forget.

"...Even in the face of our deaths," Kara continued, with a steadying breath. "The richness of our lives shall be yours..." Alex put her phone on speaker so she could still hear Kara's voice even after she stuck her phone in her pocket, and ran to tell her parents she was going to Kara's. It was on the tip of Susan Grey's tongue to say no; they'd just had an earthquake, the house was a mess, and Kara had her own family to rely on. But, the kindhearted mother could see the desperation in her daughter's face; she could faintly hear Kara's voice coming out of the phone in Alex's pocket, and she knew the foster girl must be terrified if this was her first earthquake, her first trauma since her parents' deaths. So instead, she just hugged her headstrong daughter and told her husband to get his car keys.

It was no more than ten minutes before Alex was crawling under the bed beside Kara's trembling body, curled up in the fetal position under her bed, silent tears still streaming down her face. The blond girl had followed Alex's instructions to let Eliza hold her hand until she could get there; Kara's smaller hand was peeking out from under the edge of the bed, holding onto her foster mom's, who was sitting in patient silence with her back pressed up against Kara's bedroom wall, just holding tight to her little girl's unbreakable hand, that was nonetheless trembling with terror.

As soon as Alex shed her coat and shoes and crawled under the bed next to Kara, the blonde girl let go of her foster mom's hand and wrapped both arms tight around her best friend's body, losing what little composure she had regained as she burst into uncontrollable tears against Alex's chest. "I thought I would n-n-never s-see you again," the shaking girl sobbed, as she clung to the one person in the universe who made her feel completely safe, loved, and understood.

"I know bluebird, I'm so sorry you got so scared...this wasn't like what happened on Krypton, it's just a regular earthquake, it's normal here," Alex explained soothingly, slipping one hand up the back of Kara's shirt to press against her skin, giving her as much contact as possible, while her other hand held onto Kara's hair at the back of her neck, rubbing her thumb in gentle circles. They stayed that way for a few minutes without talking, Kara crying herself out with her tears soaking into Alex's t-shirt, curled up under the bed; neither of them noticed that Eliza and Jeremiah had left the room, knowing their sweet orphan from across the galaxy was in good hands.

Finally, Kara sniffled, and sighed, her tense muscles going limp against Alex's body. "Don't let go of me, Lexie," she murmured, rubbing her tear-streaked face into her best friend's dark hair.

"I won't," Alex promised, squeezing Kara's warm body a little tighter and kissing the top of her head. "I'll never let go of you, Kara."

"Forever and always?" Kara asked, her voice small and vulnerable and embarrassed, sounding much younger than her fourteen years suddenly. But Alex understood, without having to be told, that this was a natural, knee-jerk reaction to Kara's traumatized past. The trigger of her first earthquake had sent her sweet blondie right back into the worst moment of her life, when her entire planet had crumbled around her, leaving everyone she had ever known to die as she streaked away into the black depths of space, light years from another living soul as everything she'd even known was snuffed out in front of her.

"Forever and always," Alex promised, kissing the top of Kara's head. Without really thinking about it, the dark-haired girl started to sing; she didn't usually sing in front of other people, but she had a gorgeous voice, and she knew Kara liked hearing it. She sang the first thing that popped into her head, a new release that had been on the radio a lot recently, that made her think about the way she felt about Kara, every time she heard it.

"We'll do it all...everything...on our own. We don't need anything or anyone," Alex sang, threading her fingers lightly through Kara's hair. The blonde girl held onto the fabric of her best friend's shirt tightly in her fists. "If I lay here...If I just lay here...would you lie with me, and just forget the world?"

Half an hour later, when Eliza Danvers and Susan Grey tiptoed back into Kara's room, they were met with the silence of peaceful, sleeping breathing sounds from under the bed. When they got down on their knees on the carpet and looked under Kara's bed, they were unsurprised to see the two fourteen-year-olds curled up fast asleep together, Kara's head still nestled snugly against Alex's chest, and Alex's hand still buried in Kara's hair. Awkwardly but gently, the two moms managed to pull the pillows and blankets off Kara's bed, and crawl part-way under the bed (though their adult bodies didn't really fit in the tight space), slipping pillows carefully under their heads and nesting a few blankets around their sleeping bodies. The housecleaning could wait until tomorrow.


	20. Clan of the Fiery Cross (Part 1)

Hi Supergang!

A/N: This chapter is about the KKK. For anyone who doesn't already know, they are still very much around, throwing celebratory rallies for Donald Trump and beating the shit out of anyone who isn't white and straight. The title of this two-chapter arc comes from the original Superman radio show in 1946. This is a really cool piece of _real_ American history. In 1946, a young human rights activist named Stetson Kennedy decided to infiltrate the KKK and expose them. But when he took his intel to the cops, they were either indifferent or sympathetic to white supremacy, and wouldn't do anything.

So Kennedy got the amazeballs idea to bring his intel to the Superman producers instead. Because media is powerful. He told them, hey, I have all this great inside info on the Klan. How about you do a story arc where Superman fights the KKK? And the producers were totally into it. The timing was perfect, they said, because all through WWII, they'd had Superman fighting the Nazis; and now that they were defeated, Superman needed a new real-life villain to fight, something that threatened "truth, justice and the American way." And so the 16-episode arc, _Clan of the Fiery Cross,_ was born. And it worked! After Superman fought the KKK on the radio show, membership in the actual, real-life KKK dropped dramatically. Because media matters. So that's pretty bitchin'.

Enjoy :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 20: Clan of the Fiery Cross (Part 1)**

…...

It was a bright and sunny day in National City; so bright that the young father driving his kids to preschool almost didn't see the toddler walking into the road in front of his car. The little one had wandered off from his inattentive babysitter, who was arguing with her boyfriend on her phone. The sudden sight of a two-year-old in the middle of the road wiped the man's mind momentarily blank of all awareness except for one thing: don't hit the baby.

Simultaneously slamming on the brakes and swerving hard to the left, the car spun out into the oncoming lane; and the rest of the world came flooding back into the driver's head, the sound of his own kids screaming in the back seat, the front grill of the pickup truck now headed straight towards them. It was an endless moment; he knew there was nothing he could do to change what was about to happen. His last thought before he closed his eyes was a prayer that his kids would live, and his wife would forgive him. And then...

Instead of the violent crash he'd been expecting, the young dad just felt a jolt rattling through the car's frame, like a two-second earthquake...but no impact. When he opened his eyes, he gasped, looking out the window at the world now dozens of feet below. The car was flying...the car was _flying?_

When Kara floated gently back down to earth, she had the car held above her head in one hand, and the baby in the other. Traffic had come to a full stop; all the drivers, pedestrians, even the traffic cop on the corner, were all just staring at her as she gently set the car back down on the side of the road. She looked at the driver and smiled; but he didn't smile back. He looked just as terrified as he had when his car was rushing towards oncoming traffic. Kara's smile faded. The teenage babysitter came running up to her, sobbing hysterically, calling out the two-year-old's name.

"He's okay, he's fine," Kara said gently, attempting another smile at the young girl as she passed over the baby.

"Don't touch him!" the teenager screamed, backing up hastily onto the sidewalk with the baby held protectively in her arms, as if he were still in danger. The baby started to wail, alarmed by his babysitter's tears and shrieks. Kara looked around slowly at all the people around her; they _all_ looked scared. Parents clutched their children protectively. Kara's heart sank. She was still on leave from the DEO pending a psych eval after the Red K incident; but that just meant no bad-guy hunting. There was no "leave of absence" from being Supergirl. What was she supposed to do, just let a car run over a baby right in front of her?

The blonde superhero opened her mouth, trying to find something to say to reassure the terrified people around her that she wasn't going to hurt them, that she was good again; but nothing came. If watching her rescue a car in one hand and a baby in the other didn't reassure people, what good would empty words do? Her red cape rippled against her back in the breeze, and her heart sank with shame. She shot off into the sky and out of sight without saying anything at all.

…...

When she arrived at CatCo, Kara was very surprised to be greeted by an extra-perky Ms. Grant, who waved her inside the big glass office eagerly.

"Kara, good, I need you. We need to craft the perfect tweet for you to compliment the article I'm writing on Supergirl's return. It'll be tomorrow's lead story in the Tribune," Ms. Grant smiled brightly. "Thank God for camera phones, because no one could have planned ahead and sent a photographer for _this_." She turned her computer screen around, showing a photo of Kara floating back to earth holding the car and the baby, the sun shining through her blonde hair as she smiled brightly; not yet aware that the people on the ground below were _not_ relieved, but afraid, at the sight of her.

"Oh..." Kara sighed dejectedly, wilting a little as she looked at the picture. "Ms. Grant, I...I don't think we should run the story. That picture, it's a bit misleading."

"Misleading?" Cat Grant raised one blonde eyebrow in her quintessential _just try to prove me wrong_ expression. "Did you _not_ save a car and a baby from a horrible crash just now?"

"No, I did, but..."

"Then it's not misleading." Ms. Grant swung the screen back towards herself, re-clicked on her open Word doc, and continued writing.

"But everyone was still scared of me. Once I was back on the ground, everyone was just staring at me like they were afraid to move. Like they were afraid of me. It wasn't...I wasn't..." The blonde girl shook her head hopelessly, trying to find the words to express what she was feeling. That an article celebrating her return to the public eye after the Red K incident wasn't the right thing to do, because the _people_ weren't celebrating. The people were scared. _That_ was the truth, that was what the article should say.

"Kara, you have tortured yourself about this long enough," Ms. Grant said briskly, in her most decisive voice. "We both know that what happened last month wasn't your fault; you were poisoned. And we both know the public will forgive you once they see you back among them, saving the day, just like before. And in order for _that_ to happen, the public needs to actually _see_ you saving the day. Isn't it lucky that we have a newspaper, a website, and an entire media empire right here waiting to show them?" The older woman smiled wryly.

"It feels manipulative..." Kara shook her head, unconsciously twirling her engagement ring around her finger. It was something her boss had noticed her doing lately whenever she felt worried or anxious.

"Did you save those people for the sake of getting media coverage?" The older woman asked simply.

"Of course not!" Kara exclaimed indignantly.

"Then it's not manipulative," Ms. Grant shrugged with a smile, and as if to declare the matter closed, she returned her eyes to her computer screen. "Draft some Supergirl tweets, all right? Then you can proof the article and give me your input...but I warn you, I will veto anything self-deprecating. We are celebrating the return of our beloved Superhero. That is the tone we are setting. People will rise, Kara...just wait. They will. I shouldn't have to tell you that; you're the one who usually has more faith in people than anyone I know." Ms. Grant looked up and gave her young protege a little half-smile. Kara finally smiled unwillingly back.

"Thank you, Ms. Grant," Kara said quietly, feeling a little better just from smiling. She hadn't been doing a lot of that recently.

"Mm-hmm," the older woman nodded, her voice reassuringly confident as always. Kara's smile got a little bigger as she turned and headed for her own desk to get to work.

While Kara was hard at work at CatCo, Alex was equally hard at work with Astra at the DEO—under a heavily armed guard with Kryptonite dart guns, of course—trying to find a way to stop Myriad. As Astra had warned them, so far it seemed scientifically impossible. If Kryptonian technology couldn't stop it, how on Earth was _human_ technology supposed to get the job done? But every program could be deprogrammed. Every poison had an antidote. And Alex wasn't giving up until she unlocked the secret of the Kryptonian mind-control technology, period. Astra's information was valuable, but only to a point; she wasn't a scientist, she was a soldier. She didn't invent the thing. Still, her intel was the first solid lead they had on Myriad, there was no denying that. Along with all the pain and suffering Kara had gone through to get her aunt to help them...it couldn't be for nothing.

After a long, frustrating day behind the microscope, Alex had her DEO escort (since she still couldn't drive with her dominant arm in the sling) drop her off at Ms. Grant's house, where Kara was babysitting Carter for the evening. Ms. Grant _was_ a single mom, in addition to all her more auspicious titles; and she did occasionally, between meetings with Bill Gates and the White House Press Secretary, go on actual dates.

It was Carter who opened the door when Alex rang the bell; and for a moment he looked disappointed when he saw her standing there. "Geez, don't get _too_ excited," Alex said sarcastically, ruffling his hair with her good hand. Carter smiled sheepishly.

"Hi Alex," he said, hugging her gently. "Sorry, I just thought you were the pizza guy. But I am happy to see you! How's your arm? Does it hurt a lot?" He led her inside the house, fussing over her almost as much as Kara.

"Nah, it's fine. It's healing. I'll be back out in the field soon," Alex assured the kindhearted little boy with a smile. When she saw Kara sitting at the kitchen table with a board game and an extra-large package of Oreos, her smile got even bigger. "Hey, there's my girl."

"Hi Lexie," Kara beamed back at her, standing up and holding her fiancee's face in both hands for a quick, but very tender kiss. "Are you hungry?" She offered up an Oreo. "We have pizza on the way, but I couldn't wait."

"So I see," Alex grinned, glad to see her sweet girl acting more like her sunny self again, after the spell of depression she'd been going through recently with the Red K, and everything since. She took a playful bite of the cookie in Kara's hand. "Yum." Then the bell rang again, and Carter was up like a shot, yelling _pizza!_ happily down the hallway as he raced to answer the door.

…...

It was several hours later, Carter already in bed, when Kara and Alex were distracted from the movie they were watching by the sound of shattering glass. They both jumped up from the couch with a start, Kara automatically whipping off her glasses so she could see through the house to find the source of the crash. Her jaw dropped in silent shock as she stared at something Alex couldn't see.

"Kara? What is it?" Alex asked, putting a hand on the blonde girl's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"It's..." Kara opened and closed her mouth a few times. No words came.

"Baby, you're scaring me," Alex said gently, putting a hand on Kara's cheek and forcing her to make eye contact. "What is it?"

"Look out the window," Kara said quietly, nodding towards the curtained windows across the living room. Alex went and opened the curtains, looking out onto the front lawn. Her jaw dropped too, but in outrage rather than plain shock.

"Oh _hell_ no," the dark-haired girl growled, marching towards the front door.

"Lexie, stop!" Kara grabbed Alex's good arm. "What are you going to do? You don't even have a gun and your arm's in a sling."

"I'm not going to fight them, Kara. I'm going to tell them to go the fuck away before I call Supergirl to kick their asses."

"What's going on?" Carter asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he walked slowly downstairs in his pajamas. "I heard a crash or something..."

"Nothing, Carter. Go back to sleep," Kara said authoritatively, giving Alex a stern look. Supergirl couldn't come _now,_ because Kara couldn't just disappear in front of Carter without explanation. The little boy crossed the room and looked out the window, despite Kara and Alex's protest. His blue eyes grew wide and alert, all traces of sleepiness disappearing from his face.

"Is that...the Ku Klux Klan?" Carter asked incredulously, staring out at the ring of white-hooded figures standing on his large front lawn, where a tall wooden cross burned brightly in the night air.

"Yes. Don't look," Kara shook her head, crossing the room to pull him back away from the window. "Lexie, go call the cops." Alex nodded, already taking out her phone. But as soon as Kara released him, Carter ran to the front door and threw it open, racing out onto the lawn in his pajamas and slippers.

"We're not scared of you!" He yelled at the group of hooded men, at least twenty of them, standing in a semicircle and watching the huge cross burn.

"Well you should be," one of the men jeered. His voice sounded cocky, confident. Smug. "Your mama's gone down a bad road, son. Disgraced our country. Made the wrong people mad. Sooner or later, someone's gonna teach her a lesson about who this world belongs to."

"It belongs to everyone!" Carter yelled, his hands clenching into fists. Kara ran out of the house after him, pulling him protectively behind her. How she longed to blow out that flaming cross with her freeze breath, right here, right now...but she couldn't. Not dressed as Kara Danvers. Not in front of Carter.

"The police are on their way," Kara yelled out, in a loud but calm voice across the wide expanse of Ms. Grant's front lawn. "If you know what's good for you, you'll be gone before they get here." She looked from the hooded figures standing in the firelight, to the neighbors looking out through their own windows, shock and fear in all their eyes. The KKK, burning a cross, here in National City...no one had seen this before. No one in National City had ever expected to see this; not in the 21st Century.

"You just tell the lady of the house we've got our eye on her," one of the men jeered, the same one who had spoken to Carter. "You tell her we'd hate to see this fine, brave boy grow up without a mama." Kara could feel Carter's body trembling with rage behind her, and she grabbed him just in time as he raced out from behind her again, intent on attacking the hooded Klansman who had threatened his mother head on.

"Carter, stop. Stop," Kara shook her head gently, picking him up around his waist and dragging him back toward the house as he screamed his head off.

"You stay away from my mom, or Supergirl will get you! Get off our property, you dirty racist pigs! I'll kill you!" The men laughed as Carter yelled and screamed, but then the sound of sirens in the distance made them stop. With a nod, they all began piling back into the three big trucks they had apparently arrived in, and took off into the night, hollering and laughing. The flaming cross remained. Alex ran to Kara's side, and between them they tried to calm the enraged little boy who was kicking and screaming in Kara's arms.

"Okay...okay," Carter panted at last, finally going limp as the adrenalin started to drain out of him. They all stared at the flaming cross together in silence for a moment, holding onto each other for comfort, for solidarity. "I never thought...I'd really see the KKK, in real life," the blonde boy said finally, after a short stretch of silence that seemed like forever.

"Me either," Alex whispered, shaking her head as she dropped her chin against Kara's shoulder, wrapping her good arm around Kara and Carter both as they all stared up at the blaze.

"Look what they wrote," Carter nodded to the front of his house, where giant, spray-painted letters said _ALIEN-LOVER_ and _RACE TRAITOR_.

"Yeah," Kara nodded quietly. "Well I think I know what your mom would say to that." With a small smile, her boss's voice came sharply into focus in Kara's mind. "If you're pissing off the KKK...you know you're doing something right."

…...

 _To Be Continued!_


	21. Clan of the Fiery Cross (Part 2)

Happy Christmukah, Supergang! Hope everyone is having good holiday times. And for those people who are stuck with family they'd rather _not_ be stuck with...stay tough, and remember you get to go back to your real homes and chosen families soon.

And to my anonymous friend—you're not a shitty person. You were asleep, but now you're awake. There's no shame in being on a journey. Just don't go back to sleep. You're doing as well as anyone could!

A/N: there is one part of one speech in this chapter that is excerpted directly from a 1920 pamphlet titled "Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan," which can be found in the online archives of The Jackson Sun, from Jackson, Mississippi. If you are interested in this historical aspect, it's the one speech that doesn't reference Supergirl or anything contemporary to the story. Msg me if you want more details and I will happily provide. Now let's get going so Kara and Alex can kick some klansman ass! ;)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 21: Clan of the Fiery Cross (Part 2)**

…...

"Is it really true? The KKK came to your house last night?" The throng of fourth-graders gathered in awe around their classmate in the schoolyard, who looked back at them all like a deer in headlights, unused to being the center of attention. Though Carter was outgoing and enthusiastic when he was with Kara and Alex, he was often at a loss when it came to relating to kids his own age. He wasn't very fond of big groups, either.

"Yeah...it's true," the blonde boy nodded cautiously, unsure what the popular response to this news would be. Excited whispering immediately broke out among the crowd of schoolchildren.

"Weren't you scared?" A little girl said, her eyes wide with anxious admiration. "They whip people to death, or they hang them. And the police can't do anything because no one knows their real identity. And they came to your _house."_

"I wasn't scared," Carter shook his head defiantly, his timid stature among his peers falling away as the memory of running outside and standing his ground against the hooded terrorists flooded back into his mind, making him stand a little straighter and unconsciously puff out his chest. Because he wasn't thinking of himself as he stood proud; like a real hero, he was thinking of the people he was trying to protect. His mom...Kara...Alex. "I ran outside and told them to get lost, or Supergirl would get them."

"My mom and dad said to stay away from Supergirl," another kid shook his head nervously. "They said she's too dangerous for us to trust us anymore. What if you did call her, and she came, and she was on their side?"

"Supergirl would never take the KKK's side!" Carter yelled, his cheeks flushing pink as his hands clenched into fists.

"How do _you_ know?" A red-haired boy asked, a note of challenge in his voice. Before Carter could clear the fury from his mind enough to form an answer, a blur of red and blue whooshed down from the sky and landed right next to him, in the middle of the large recess yard next to the lush school grounds. All the other kids except for Carter gasped and took several steps back, widening the circle around the blonde boy and the superhero in the swirling red cape. He just looked up at her and beamed.

"I'd say Carter has some pretty good leads. But a real reporter never reveals their source, you know." Kara smiled and winked down at the blonde boy, who grinned and hugged her tight around her waist.

"Supergirl! I knew you'd come back!"

"Your mom told me what happened. I'm sorry I wasn't there, buddy. But it sounds like you did just fine without me." She ruffled his hair.

"Um...Supergirl?" The red-haired boy asked timidly, his eyes wide and uncertain. His parents had told him he shouldn't trust her anymore...but now that he was looking right at her, he couldn't help but feel the warmth in her kind smile and her sparkling blue eyes. "If you _had_ been there at Carter's house last night...what wouldja' have done? Would you blast them with your laser eyes?"

"No. No laser eyes," Kara shook her head, looking around at each of the kids with a very serious expression. "I don't use my powers unless I have to. And when the bad guys are human beings, I _don't_ have to. When I find those men who threatened Carter's mom...I'll just tie them all up like a bakery box and fly them straight to the police."

"But you could melt their faces! Or throw them into outer space!" One of the other kids exclaimed, taking a step forward as he apparently forgot that he was supposed to be afraid of her. The rest of the kids soon followed, inching closer in curiosity to hear the answer.

"I could," Kara nodded in acknowledgement, her blue eyes still and serious as she gazed around at all the kids looking up at her expectantly. "The President could also launch a nuclear missile on them. Just because we _can_ do things, doesn't always mean we should. Having powers is a big responsibility."

"Is that why you disappeared last month, after you scared everybody? You felt bad about how you used your powers?" A little girl asked, twisting the end of her braid as she looked up at the blonde superhero expectantly.

"That wasn't her fault, Jessica! She was poisoned!" Carter yelled. Kara put a pacifying hand on his shoulder, a move that did not go unnoticed by a single one of the kids flocked around them.

"It's okay, Carter. We can't get mad at people for asking questions. Everybody has the right to know what happened," Kara explained gently to her youngest protector. Then, looking back at the little girl, she nodded sadly. "Yes. I did feel bad. I felt terrible. Even though I was poisoned and I couldn't help it...that doesn't change what happened. I scared everybody, I scared myself."

"But you're good again now," the little girl said, as if it were an obvious fact. "If you don't go back to helping people, the bad guys who poisoned you will win."

"Yeah...I know," Kara nodded, with a sad little smile as she noticed some of the teachers standing nervously at the edge of the schoolyard, unsure whether the children were safe in her presence. Feeling that fear and doubt from people...it broke her heart. But, she didn't feel any of those things coming from the kids gathered around her. They radiated awe and admiration...and also, incredibly, understanding. Kids, she realized, had an easier time accepting that mistakes were part of life; because they knew what it was to be punished. And then to move on. "I'm just not sure people _want_ my help right now."

"They will." The little girl smiled, stepping forward and hugging her unexpectedly. Kara smiled shyly and hugged her back.

"Thanks." The school bell rang, and Kara ruffled Carter's hair one more time. "I'm glad you're okay, buddy. Kara and Alex told me how brave you were. But next time wait for me to get there, okay?"

"Okay," Carter beamed, awe-struck. With a final wave at the kids, Kara shot off back into the sky. The teachers, who had been watching worriedly from a distance, all smiled in relief as they watched the kids running excitedly towards their classrooms.

…...

When Kara arrived at work a few minutes later, everyone's eyes were riveted on the TV screens mounted all around the CatCo lobby, watching Ms. Grant, on-screen, being interviewed by Anderson Cooper about the previous night's attack on her house.

"Frankly, Anderson, I consider it an honor to be singled out by a terrorist group like the KKK as a threat to white supremacy. Let the whole world see their hate, even if they won't show their faces. CatCo stands strong on the diversity of our talented and dedicated staff, just like National City stands strong on the diversity of our population," Cat said smoothly, not a hair out of place. "If anyone takes exception to that, let them say it to my face, without the silly halloween ghost hood. But that, I am sure, will never happen. These cowards don't have the balls to show their faces in broad daylight."

"And what would you say to those viewers who are finding themselves suddenly in the awkward position of being sympathetic to the klan's goal of ridding the planet of extraterrestrials? Now that even Supergirl can't be trusted?" Anderson asked in a deliberately calm and thoughtful voice, his tone conveying no opinion one way or the other.

"I would say...that anyone finding themselves in sympathy with the Ku Klux Klan should know that that's gut-check time. There is no grey area here. Either you are against terrorism, or you aren't."

"And Supergirl?" Anderson prompted gently but firmly, not letting Cat evade the question. "Couldn't she be considered a terrorist threat now, too? One that could do a hundred times more damage to the people and property of National City than the KKK, certainly."

"Supergirl is not a terrorist," Cat shook her head, smiling knowingly as she spoke of her young protege. "She is a remarkable young woman who's survived a galaxy's worth of trauma, and still holds the purest ideals of love and hope that any human being could aspire to. The powers she wields were given to her by nature; if she wanted to, she could have declared herself child-queen of this planet when she arrived here at the age of thirteen. Yet she has always aspired only to help people, to protect them."

"And the incident last month? When you yourself went on the air denouncing her as a threat to public safety?"

"She was poisoned, Anderson. As I said in that very broadcast, if you recall. The identity of her attackers remains unknown, and _that_ is who the public should be hunting. Perhaps it _was_ the KKK, working with an accomplice with access to highly advanced technology, deliberately seeking to discredit Supergirl so she would no longer be a threat to their reign of bigotry and intimidation. Even a regular old human being can be brainwashed to kill; you know that, Anderson. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's read _The Manchurian Candidate."_ Cat smiled dryly, and Anderson chuckled.

"I'm _also_ sure I'm not the only one who saw the photo of her heroics on the 405 freeway yesterday, either." Cat smiled as a blown-up version of the photo she was referring to was thrown up on the wall behind them, the same one she'd shown Kara in her office, with the blonde girl holding a car above her head with one hand, and a baby in the other, floating down to earth with the same beaming smile she always wore when everyone was safe after a near-catastrophe.

"So for the record, Cat, you still stand behind Supergirl 100%?"

"100%, Anderson. And let that be a warning to the ignorant pond scum who burned a cross on my property last night—the next time you come to my door, Supergirl will be the one to answer."

…...

"She did good, huh?" James smiled as he walked up beside Kara and nodded to the TV.

"She did great," Kara nodded, smiling shyly in return. "She always knows exactly what to say, she never gets flustered in front of the cameras...I don't know how she does it."

"Well maybe she has a few more superpowers up her sleeve to teach you," the tall photographer teased her gently, poking her in the ribs until she giggled unwillingly, squirming away from him with a broad smile on her face. Lucy came briskly towards them with a portfolio full of paperwork, and she smiled when she saw Kara laughing. No one at CatCo had seen many smiles from their resident superhero recently.

"Hey guys. Watching Ms. Grant stick it to the klan? It never gets old," the young lawyer smiled.

"It really doesn't," James agreed, pulling his girlfriend in by the waist for a quick kiss. "Hmm..." the tall, dark and handsome photographer smiled knowingly. "As much fun as this is...I've got layouts waiting in my office, and I doubt Ms. Grant will be in an understanding mood if her exclusive headline on the battle against white supremacy is delayed."

"Yeah, I'd better go check in on my article, too," Kara sighed, regaining her composure as the giggles faded away. "I emailed it to Ms. Grant before work, but knowing her, she's already got my notes prepared before she left for the Anderson Cooper taping."

"Come walk with me," Lucy smiled, holding up her paperwork. "I have to get her sig on these restraining orders. The next time someone in a white hood shows up at Ms. Grant's house, or within 500 feet of CatCo, they'll be in immediate violation of the protection order, and we can haul their asses off to the NCPD before they even have a chance to light anything on fire."

"Sounds good," Kara nodded, watching with a shy smile as Lucy leaned up on her tiptoes and wrapped both arms around her boyfriend's neck, giving him a sound kiss goodbye.

"See you at lunch, Jimmy," the dark-haired girl grinned teasingly.

"You're killing me, woman," James groaned, clutching his chest as if he were about to go into heart failure. Kara and Lucy both giggled as they turned and walked away.

"You guys are beyond adorable," Kara shook her head as she fell into step beside her friend. "Looks like you made the right choice by moving out here, huh?"

"I really, really did," Lucy nodded dreamily. "Fighting for James and leaving my father's command was the best decision I ever made in my life. I haven't gotten one of these yet..." She picked up Kara's left hand and ran her fingers over the undulating silver engagement ring, covered in tiny Kryptonese writing. "But Jimmy and I haven't had half our lives together to get ready for _that_ plunge. And on that note, how's your better half doing? Is she still on medical leave?"

"Just from field work. She's back at the lab though, she's doing great. Her arm is healing really well. She should be back out in the field in another six weeks or so," Kara smiled, thinking of her fiancee and her aunt back at the DEO, working together on a cure for Myriad. It was still terrifying to think of everything that was at stake...a whole world of mindless drones to be controlled by Non and his sadistic terrorist army...but the thought of Astra spending time with Alex, getting to know her and see how good and brilliant and brave she was...it gave Kara hope. Hope that she hadn't dared to think of in a long, long time. That a part of her life on Krypton could become part of her life here on earth; that the two halves of herself would not have to remain forever divided.

She was still smiling goofily to herself when they reached Ms. Grant's office; but her smile quickly faded when she saw all the red ink marking up her copy in Ms. Grant's hand. "Geez! Is my writing that terrible? I _do_ have a college degree. Should I give it back?"

"No need for dramatics, Kara, your draft is excellent. This is the process. If there wasn't a process, it wouldn't be called a draft," Ms. Grant winked, handing over the marked-up pages of Kara's firsthand account of witnessing the KKK in National City. "You didn't think being a reporter would be _easy,_ did you?" She was giving the blonde girl a satisfied little half-smirk that few of her employees had ever seen; that look that was reserved for those few employees she felt true affection for, along with professional respect. Kara couldn't help grinning sheepishly back.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Thank you for the notes, Ms. Grant. I'll get right on this." Cat nodded distractedly, already moving on to the legal papers Lucy was presenting for her signature. Bit by bit, Kara realized, as she walked away with her red-marked draft in hand...life was starting to feel something like normal again.

…...

Of course, "normal" for Supergirl wasn't exactly the traditional definition of the word; a few hours later, as Kara was crossing the CatCo lobby to bring Ms. Grant her revisions, all the TVs mounted around the lobby suddenly turned to static, and a signal broke through that was _not_ a National City news broadcast. Kara stopped dead in her tracks, along with all the other CatCo employees, as a hooded figure in blood-red robes—the Grand Dragon, perhaps—filled every screen, his voice warped and robotic-sounding from some sort of voice-recognition scrambler. Everyone stood up from their desks as the office fell deadly silent. Kara felt Winn walk up beside her, and she reached for his hand, squeezing as tight as she dared.

"People of CatCo," the deep, robotic voice boomed across the executive floor. "The fire of righteousness has come to cleanse your city of its filth, its mongrels, its blood mixing and its harboring of unholy creatures not of this earth. Let last night's visit to your leader in sin, the race-traitor Cat Grant, serve as warning to all who stand behind her in her sinister plot to dilute the purity of the white race." The faceless red hood stared down at all the CatCo employees, and Kara could hear the sounds of rapid breathing and tears as people huddled together in shock.

"We are the voice of the White Man, exalting the Caucasian Race and teaching the doctrine of White Supremacy," the red-hooded figure continued. "We are organized to establish the solidarity and to realize the mission of the White Race. All of Christian Civilization depends upon the preservation and upbuilding of the White Race, and it is the mission of the Ku Klux Klan to proclaim this doctrine until the White Race shall come into its proper place as rulers of this world, as Almighty God intended. We will not rest until the alien mongrel you call _Supergirl_ is cast out into the coldest reaches of space from whence she came, forsaken by God himself. All who stand in our way—be you alien or human, mongrel or race-traitor—shall be shown no mercy, as the Almighty showed no mercy to the heathens of Sodom and Gomorrah. You have been warned."

...And just like that, the broadcast cut back to CNN, and the hooded figure was gone. The employees of CatCo stayed frozen where they stood, temporarily shellshocked and unable to return to the hustle and bustle of a few moments ago. "Mr. Schott," Cat Grant said quietly, having come up behind Winn and Kara while their attention was focused on the TV screen. "Please cut the power to the televisions for a moment. I need to speak to our people."

"Uh, yes ma'am. Right away," Winn nodded, running over to his desktop and, with a few quick keystrokes, all the screens around the CatCo executive floor went black.

"All right, people. Can I please have your attention," Ms. Grant said calmly as she climbed up onto a desk, taking Kara's hand as the blonde girl held out an arm to help her up. "I can only imagine how you all must be feeling right now. We may be the first people in this century to be graced with a live message of hate and intimidation from the original terrorists of this country." Ms. Grant didn't look scared, though; she looked galvanized. Impassioned. Unbreakable. Kara's heart blazed with admiration, and she promised herself right there and then that she would never let one of those hooded cowards lay a finger on Ms. Grant or her family, ever.

"So the gauntlet has been thrown, and we will heed the call. These hooded cowards seek to silence the free press with threats of violence, even genocide. Without free media, there can be no democracy. Make no mistake; the power lies in _our_ hands, as it always has, to tell the truth. Otherwise there would be no reason for these ignorant knuckle-draggers to threaten us. Don't give them the power to intimidate you. I give you my solemn promise, here and now, that no harm will come to any CatCo employee or your families. Supergirl will protect us, at all costs." Kara gave a little choke that she managed to turn into a cough as a few faces turned to look at her. Winn patted her on the back awkwardly. "All right now, everyone back to work. The news isn't going to report itself."

Galvanized by their CEO's fearlessness, the CatCo executive floor burst back into action, as researchers and reporters, computer techs and interns all ran to complete their assignments. "Ms. Grant," Kara whispered urgently as her boss climbed back down off the desk. "Why did you say that, about me protecting everyone? Do you realize how many employees you have?"

"Considering I sign all their paychecks...yes, I think I do," Cat said dryly, with a confident little smirk.

"Okay, well, what if they attack in five places at once? What if someone gets hurt when I'm not there, what if I fail? Then the people will hate me even more than they do now!" Kara groaned, clenching her hands together in anxiety.

"Kara. Look at me," Ms. Grant said gently, squeezing the younger girl's shoulder and staring unwaveringly into her clear blue eyes. "The city may have lost faith in Supergirl...but I haven't. And you shouldn't either." Kara gave a deep sigh, then stood up a little straighter, squaring her shoulders.

"Yes, ma'am."

…...

After work, Kara didn't fly straight home, but instead went to the DEO, after getting a text from Alex saying they'd had a breakthrough in their research. Kara assumed it was about Myriad; so, as much as she wanted to beg Alex to just come home and cuddle until the image of the hooded figure on the TV screen was wiped from her mind, the blonde girl flew outside the city limits to the desert bunker of the DEO's underground facility. When she walked into Alex's lab, her blue eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.

"Surprise," Alex grinned happily, holding out both arms as if to display some dazzling prize. But her arm _was_ the prize.

"Lexie! Your arm! How...?" Kara laughed, running up to Alex and wrapping both arms around her waist, spinning her around in a wide circle in the air. They were both laughing when they touched back down on the ground.

"Accidental discovery, courtesy of Myriad," Alex shrugged, still beaming at Kara's joyful expression. "We still haven't cracked that nut quite yet...but while we were trying to isolate the regions of the brain that are engaged by Myriad's signal, I noticed some unusual synaptic overstimulation patterns happening in endogenous neural stem cell regeneration..."

"And you used yourself as a lab rat," Kara shook her head, trying to give her fiancee a stern look and completely failing. "I should be mad at you right now. What if you gave yourself an extra arm by mistake?"

"You _should_ be mad...but you're not," Alex teased, slipping both hands into Kara's long hair, and pulling her close. "Because now I can do this..." Alex's kiss erased all other concerns from Kara's mind, as the blonde girl relished the feel of being held tight by the girl she'd loved since the seventh grade. She sighed happily into Alex's mouth, and Alex slipped her hands down from Kara's hair to her hips, pulling her in even tighter.

"You do know this door doesn't even have a lock, don't you?" J'onn rumbled in his deep, teasing voice, a sparkle in his eyes as he walked in grinning at the pair of them, a sheaf of documents in his hands.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," Alex grinned, not looking sorry at all as she detached herself from Kara's lips.

"All right, Grey. If you can keep your hands to yourself long enough to sign these papers, you'll be officially restored to full duty...even though I _should_ have you court marshaled for experimenting on yourself like a mad scientist."

"It's not an experiment if you know it's going to work," Alex shrugged unrepentantly, grabbing the pen happily with her newly-restored right hand and signing all the paperwork.

"You are such a cocky little prodigy," Kara shook her head, smiling like an idiot. It felt good to smile like this; it seemed like a long time since she last had. "It's really hot," she whispered low in Alex's ear, grazing her teeth briefly over the edge of her fiancee's earlobe. Alex closed her eyes, and Kara, with her super-senses, could feel her girl's blood rushing to the surface of her skin as she flushed pink and warm. "Can we go home now?" Kara asked breathlessly, one hand slipping up under the edge of Alex's tight black top to rest against her stomach.

"Yes. Please, God. Go home," J'onn groaned, closing his eyes with a wince as he turned and walked away with his paperwork.

"Not home," Alex shook her head playfully after the Director had left, a delightfully devious smile shining in her dark eyes. "Sparring chamber."

"I don't want to _spar,_ Lex," Kara whined, with her best orphaned puppy pout. "I want to make you come so hard, you forget how to talk for a minute."

"That only happened once," Alex grinned fiendishly. "But yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. In the sparring chamber."

 _"Why_ in the sparring chamber? So some marine can walk in on us? That's gross." Kara wrinkled her nose.

"We can lock it from the inside, dummy. I have all the override codes."

"Okay, and then...?"

"And then we can set the kryptonite containment fields, and I can make you completely lose your mind without you having to worry you might accidentally hurt me." Alex was still grinning, but Kara stiffened slightly.

"What?"

"It's okay bluebird, I know it's something you always have to do, and I know you don't mind doing it...but _I_ mind. I want to give you this. Sex is supposed to be about total release, and I don't think you've ever really experienced that; not a hundred percent. I just wanna make you feel good, Kara...can I, please?" Alex bit her lip, smiling hopefully.

"Oh...okay," Kara nodded shyly, feeling suddenly like a nervous, inexperienced teenager.

"Don't be scared, _kri-zhao_ ," Alex murmured, kissing Kara just below her ear.

"I'm not," Kara shook her head with a smile, suddenly realizing it was true. Hands linked together, Alex dragged Kara off to their favorite sparring chamber, both of them giggling like fifteen-year-olds.

…...

It was the middle of the night, and they were still in the sparring chamber, when the sound of Kara's emergency ringtone went off; it was something she shared only with her closest friends, those who knew her true identity, and she could never ignore it—not even when she was naked and sweaty and covered in glorious hickeys, something her body had never allowed her to experience before. With a groan, she rolled off Alex's hips onto the mat and reached for her pants, pulling her phone out of the pocket. Alex made a pathetic whine of protest, but didn't say anything.

"...Lucy? Lucy, slow down, I can't—he _what?_ When? No, no, it's okay, I know how to find him. I'll call you as soon as I can." Kara hung up the call and looked at Alex with steel in her usually warm blue eyes. "James is missing. He didn't show up for his date night with Lucy, and he didn't answer his phone, and when she went to his apartment, she found signs of forced entry."

"Three guesses who came calling," Alex growled, sitting up and reaching for her clothes. "How the hell are we gonna find him?" Kara held up her phone with a grim smile. "The little emergency switch he wears, the one Clark gave him—it has a GPS. It's always active, even if he doesn't get a chance to hit the button."

"How come I don't have one of those?" Alex frowned, raising an eyebrow indignantly.

"Because you..." Kara crawled across Alex's body, still naked, and kissed her deeply. "...Can handle yourself."

"Oh...yeah," Alex agreed stupidly, while Kara zoomed back into her clothes at the speed of light.

"Assemble a strike team. We're going to need as many badges as we can get. I'll be there waiting," the blonde girl nodded, all business now that she was back in the cape and boots.

"Kar, be careful," Alex reminded her beloved alien, stroking her cheek and leaning in for a quick kiss.

"They're just bad men in hoods, Lexie. They can't hurt me," Kara shook her head with a reassuring smile. "But they _can_ hurt James. I've gotta go." Alex nodded, and watched the blur of red and blue that was her baby girl streak away from her down the long DEO corridor to the surface.

…...

It took Kara less than three minutes to zero in on the spot where James was being held; it was the darkened football field of National City High School, lit only by the flame of the huge fiery cross erected at the center line, and the torches of the circle of hooded men standing around the red-cloaked leader, who was whipping a dark figure tied to the goal post. _James._

Kara zipped down to the ground in front of her friend, her body absorbing the impact of the whip that was meant for James. She wrapped one hand around the thick leather strap and pulled, sending the red-hooded figure flying over her head and across the grass, where he landed with a thud. "James? James, can you hear me? I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"

"Knew you would," the tall photographer wheezed, trying to smile; but it came out as a wince. His back was raw and bloody. "I got a clean shot of the Grand Wizard...without his hood. They got my camera, Kara..."

"I'll get it," she assured him, ripping away the ropes that bound him to the goalpost. Then, she turned and blew out the flaming cross with her freeze breath, as she'd so desperately wanted to do at Ms. Grant's house. Once the cross was no longer alight, the field became pitch black again. It was nearly 2am. "Lexie," Kara murmured urgently, tapping her earpiece. "We need to get the power switched on at the NCHS football field, _now_." Moments later, the stadium was flooded with light. The sound system went on, too, and inside nearby houses, lights began to flicker on as local residents were roused by the commotion. Kara turned to face the men in the white hoods.

"That's my friend's camera," she said coolly, nodding toward the man holding James' camera in his white-robed hands. "Give it back to him."

"We don't take orders from you, space monkey," the man jeered behind his hood. A tiny smile curled the corner of Kara's mouth before she streaked across the length of the field in a fraction of a second, taking James' camera from the man's grip as easily as if he were a toddler. But then the smile slid from her face, as a familiar, sick feeling blossomed across her skin and down into the pit of her stomach. The ground began to sway as the hooded figure produced a kryptonite blade from under his robe; and before she could think, he sank the blade deep into her shoulder.

Kara screamed convulsively, back arched with agonizing pain as she fell to the ground in a heap. The men circled around her roared with laughter. "You didn't think we'd come to the party unprepared, did you, you little parasite?" The man who'd stabbed her jeered. The kryptonite blade was still sticking out of Kara's shoulder; she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. With every ounce of her willpower, she gripped the blade in both her hands, and yanked as hard as she could, sending the glowing sword flying across the length of the field. Red blood gushed from the open wound, and she pressed her hand over it, trying to staunch the flow. Kryptonite radiation from the stab wound began circulating through her body, and the world became a dizzy ship at sea; Kara fought to keep her eyes open, her mind clear. In the corners of her vision, she saw crowds of people creeping into the bleachers from the surrounding neighborhood; but their faces were a blur. All she knew was that they were innocents, more people who could get hurt now because of her.

"You see, brethren—this creature, this demon of the underworld sent by the devil himself, is not invulnerable as she'd have us think," the hooded figure standing over her yelled out across the field. "Like all unholy creatures, she _can_ be defeated with the strength of righteousness!"

 _"Ho!"_ all the hooded men yelled, holding up their torches into the night.

"She _can_ be banished back to the fires of hell from whence she came!"

 _"Ho!"_ yelled the hooded figures again. Kara could hear the whispers breaking out among the crowd of bystanders, wondering what the should do, what they _could_ do. Back arched against the cold ground, she looked upside-down at James across the field, and they shared a moment of desperate eye contact, both of them broken and bleeding.

"We have been gifted by the hand of the Almighty Himself with the tools of righteousness to vanquish this monstrosity once and for all!" The man above Kara yelled triumphantly, brandishing a hi-tech ray gun of some kind from under his robe. _Where_ would the KKK have gotten that kind of weaponry?

 _General Lane,_ Kara thought to herself with a sickening jolt. Moments later, a massive explosion of electrically enhanced kryptonite burst from the end of the ray gun, seizing Kara's body in its grip as she writhed in agony, unable to even scream, her voice paralyzed. "No! Leave her alone!" James yelled, his voice hoarse with torture. The rest of the innocent bystanders still seemed frozen with uncertainty; no one in National City was cheering for the klan, certainly, but Kara could still hear their whispers; still unsure whether it was safe to approach her, safe to set her free.

Then the field was flooded with even more light as an NCPD helicopter hovered overhead, ordering the klansmen to lay down their arms and surrender. Kara could hear the rumble of laughter from the man standing over her with the ray gun, could hear the hum of it powering up to charge as the man said to his nearest neighbor, _I expect there's enough volts in here to take down a few pigs along with the space monkey._

Without giving herself time to think, Kara gritted her teeth and shot into the air, blood from her shoulder streaming down one arm as she put herself between the police helicopter, and the glowing green, electrically enhanced kryptonite beam. Every face in the stadium, klansmen and citizens alike, looked up and stared transfixed at the sight of Supergirl caught in the glowing green beam, arms thrown wide to protect the helicopter behind her. Her body seized and writhed uncontrollably with the force of the voltage and the kryptonite radiation surging through her; and when the charge gave out and the green light died away, she dropped like a stone from the sky, landing with a thud that rattled the aluminum bleachers. The klansmen roared with laughter.

Then...through the haze of her pain, Kara became dimly aware of feet all around her, as the residents of National City rushed down from the bleachers and surrounded her, acting as a human shield between her and the hooded attackers. The people...the people were protecting her.

"Lookit what we have here. A whole city of race traitors," another one of the hooded men jeered; and as he spoke, half a dozen more ray guns appeared from under white robes. "I don't suppose they'll be much missed in the kingdom of heaven. Time to thin the heard, boys." The hum of all the ray guns charging up was audible in the night air, as the people of National City all stood shaking, but standing their ground.

"No, don't...please...please..." Kara panted, writhing uselessly on the grass as she tried and failed to stand up, the world still swaying dizzily around her. She could hear the klansmen laughing with anticipation of more violence...and then all at once, with a heavy grunting sound, all the ray guns flew from the men's hands, flying across the length of the field and slamming into the goal post where James had been tied up. A large magnetic cuff was latched around the bottom of the goal post, turning it into a super-powered magnet, courtesy of the DEO. Kara saw Hank directing the removal of the illegal weaponry, while NCPD officers flooded into the crowd, handcuffing anyone in a white hood. Kara's eyes swam closed dizzily, panting with relief.

A large hand reached down and gripped hers, pulling her to her feet, where she swayed unsteadily. It was the NCPD SWAT team chief. "Supergirl, are you all right?" He asked, keeping one hand on her good shoulder to steady her. She nodded, still too winded to speak. Applause burst out among the crowd, and Kara smiled weakly as the SWAT captain raised their joined hands in triumph, showing the whole city that they were one team, all fighting on the side of truth, justice and the American way.

Despite the warm reception she was now getting from the public, Kara was incredibly grateful when she felt Alex coming up behind her; she could still recognize the sound of Alex's footsteps, even with her ears ringing from the thousands of volts of electrified kryptonite that had recently surged through her body.

"I thought I told you to be careful," Alex chastised playfully, coming up behind Kara and wrapping both arms around her waist to steady her.

"Sorry," Kara sighed, closing her eyes gratefully as she leaned back into Alex's strong arms. It felt so good to have Alex's arms around her again, even in the midst of how awful she felt.

"It's okay, babe. You're still my hero." Alex rubbed her fingers lightly over Kara's stomach, wanting to kiss her; but they both knew that PDA was impossible when the blonde girl was in her superhero getup. Sometimes having a secret identity was a real drag. "So, can we get you back to the DEO now for a sun-nap?"

"Uh-huh," Kara nodded; then with a woozy little hitch, she closed her eyes and stifled a sneeze against her sleeve, her whole body shuddering weakly in Alex's arms.

"Aww, baby! Solar flare? From these asshats?" The dark-haired girl jerked her head towards the robed men—now with their hoods off as they were handcuffed and packed away into the wagon—and jeered at them, her lip curling protectively. "I knew they beat you up pretty bad, but...you blew out your powers? Fighting _humans?"_

"Ndot just fighting humans," Kara sniffled, wiping her nose grumpily on the back of her wrist. "They had alien tech, Lexie...three guesses who they got it from."

"Our favorite General," Alex sighed, stroking Kara's cheek consolingly. "Well, now that we've confiscated all their weapons, at least we have a real shot at getting some proof this time, some cold hard evidence. If we can prove a connection between military intelligence and the KKK...well, I just hope Lucy won't hold it against us if we end up sending her dad to prison."

"Uh-huh..." Kara nodded absently, and sneezed again. "Do you have any tissues?" she grumbled miserably.

"Aww, bluebird...c'mon, let's get you fixed up," Alex cooed, wrapping her arm around Kara's shoulders and steering her towards one of the black DEO vehicles. "I _was_ going to put you under the sunlamps for a few hours, but that won't help now. You just need a full-system reboot. How about we go up to the roof of the CatCo building, and I'll jump off? If _that_ doesn't reset your adrenalin system...well, you'd be a pretty sucky fiancee."

"You're hilarious," Kara rolled her eyes.

"And you're my hero," Alex murmured, pulling the humvee door shut and wrapping both hands into Kara's blonde hair, kissing her thoroughly behind the privacy of the tinted windows.


	22. The Jewel of Truth and Honor

A/N: Without giving any spoilers...there is some Kryptonian cultural stuff happening in this chapter, and the source for that is the original Superman comic books, via a tumblr called kryptonculture. They scanned in some pages from the old comic books that show it. (Except for the aspects involving kri-zhao—soulmates—which is my own invention). There's also a new Kryptonese word in this chap, _urvish_. It means tranquility, peace, calm. I'm using it here idiomatically to mean calm down/relax. And you all remember _zrhueiao_ , I'm sure: it means lovely/my love.

Enjoy!

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 22: The Jewel of Truth and Honor**

…...

"Well?" Alex said brightly, pushing back from her microscope to look up at J'onn as he strode into her lab ahead of Kara. A few feet down, Astra sat at another microscope, next to a DEO soldier with a kryptonite dart gun held at the ready. Astra and Alex had been working quite well together over the last few days; but that fact did nothing to change DEO protocols regarding alien prisoners.

"Supergirl is officially reinstated to active DEO duty," The director smiled at his two young proteges, trying not to let his amusement show too obviously as they squealed happily together like a couple of teenagers.

"So, what's on the agenda boss?" Kara asked eagerly once her hugging and squealing needs had been met. "Do we have any recon on that KKK alien tech yet? I'd really like to bring in whoever supplied those kryptonite weapons. Not loving the idea of every bad guy who has it in for me being able to get their hands on that stuff."

"I've got alpha team already engaged in weapons recon," J'onn assured her, squeezing her shoulder with pride shining in his dark eyes. Less than twelve hours ago, she was bleeding, broken, and had blown out her powers from the amount of electrified kryptonite her body had absorbed when she put herself between the Klan's alien weapon and the NCPD helicopter. By the time they'd gotten her back to the DEO med lab for a massive adrenalin shot that would reboot her system, she was pale as a sheet, feverish and shivering, too dizzy to walk without Alex's arm wrapped firmly around her waist.

Yet bright and early at 0600 this morning, she'd been at his door, ready and waiting for her psych evaluation, which had been planned long before the KKK attack. J'onn had assumed they would reschedule to allow Kara some time to recuperate—if not physically, since her powers and strength had been restored—then at least emotionally. But, Kara remained resolute that the best way for her to work through any feelings she might be having about the experience was to continue fighting the good fight, and doing everything in her power to stop anyone else from getting hurt. He'd known right then, looking into the steely determination in her sky-blue eyes, that she was ready to return to duty. But they still had to do the formal evaluation, which she passed with flying colors. J'onn could not have been more proud if she were his own flesh and blood.

"So what am I supposed to do then? I can't just _sit_ here," Kara complained restlessly, spinning around in one of the command chairs with her head hanging back over the side, like an impatient kid.

"Wouldn't expect you to," Hank assured her. "Alex and your aunt Astra have been working on some theories for disrupting the Myriad signal, and we've come up with a few prototypes. Of course, if they don't work, they could blow a hole in the DEO the size of a small asteroid crater."

"So you want me to go test them out in the desert, where no one can get hurt?"

"Exactly," J'onn nodded, handing her a large black duffle bag full of prototypes and simulation signals. Kara sighed. She knew that Myriad was exponentially more important than some blackmarket kryptonite weaponry...but she really wanted to bust some heads right now. Not go test signal-disruption prototypes in the desert. Putting aside her personal feelings, Kara slung the bag over her shoulder and nodded.

"No problem, chief. I'll keep you informed."

"See that you do," J'onn nodded, and with a quick kiss for Alex, Kara was a flash of blue and red, streaking out of the DEO towards daylight. Once she was gone, Alex looked up at her boss with anxious excitement shining in her dark hazel eyes.

"Do you think she suspected anything?"

"My niece suspects nothing. It is not her nature to question the truthfulness of those close to her," Astra said in her usual blunt and overly-formal Kryptonian way of speaking. Then Astra did something very _out_ of character—she smiled at Alex. "Your surprise will be successful. Soon I shall call you niece as well, Alexah." Astra had taken to calling Alex by this very similar Kryptonian name; unlike most human names, Alex's was close to something that translated into Kryptonese, and so Astra seemed unable to separate the two in her mind. Alex didn't bother correcting her; she thought it was kind of sweet. For a reformed terrorist who would soon be her in-law, that is.

"So you definitely aren't gonna try to kill me again?" Alex asked, half joking with a small smile and one eyebrow raised playfully.

"Only if you break my niece's heart," Astra responded, her expression equally as droll.

"Well then I guess neither of us has anything to worry about," Alex smirked, picking up her cell phone and speed-dialing Winn. "Hey Winn, just checking in for a dress update... _no_ , I told you, Kara _can't_ do a fitting because it's a _surprise_. Remember the surprise? As long as it matches the measurements you took for her Supergirl suit, it should be fine." Alex paused and listened to Winn, rolling her eyes in obvious impatience. "But I _gave_ you my measurements," she whined, pacing across the lab unconsciously as she argued halfheartedly. "Okay, okay, fine, shut up already. I'll come do a fitting. Now?" She looked to Hank for rescue. He just laughed.

"Your wedding is tomorrow, Grey. Go try on your damn dress. That's an order."

"Sir, yes sir," Alex said sarcastically, but with a smile. "And you're sure you got the magic jewel thing?"

"It is _not_ magic, Alexah. You are soon to inherit the traditions of Krypton as your own, you must not make light..." Astra began lecturing. Alex was beginning to feel as if she were talking to her parents.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. _The Jewel of Truth and Honor,_ " Alex enunciated slowly and clearly, as if she were making an official decree. "Did you get _The Jewel of Truth and Honor_ from the Fortress of Solitude, J'onn?"

"With Superman's help. It's ready and waiting in Midvale at the coordinates you specified. I saw your cousin Meredith; she told me to tell you, don't screw it up." J'onn looked very serious, but with a mirthful glint in his eyes. Alex just laughed, all the tension of her secret wedding preparations released by the little injection of humor from her smartass cousin. _Takes one to know one_ , she reflected with a shake of her head. She knew that was just Meredith's way of giving her approval. And Alex appreciated it. After loving Kara for half her life, having no doubts in her mind about their future...she was feeling surprisingly nervous about the secret Kryptonian wedding she was planning for beloved blue-eyed alien. What if she was overstepping, what if she got it wrong, what if being given a Kryptonian wedding ceremony here on Earth was an insult or a disappointment to Kara?

But these small insecurities vanished almost as soon as they were formed in her mind. They would have a big, festive reception party in National City later on, one they could plan together. But this Kryptonian wedding...this was Alex's gift to Kara, something the blonde girl would never ask for. She wouldn't want to do anything that would need to remain secret, she wouldn't want Alex to give up the chance for a big, public wedding. Kara never wanted Alex to give up _anything_. But Alex didn't feel like she was giving anything up. Being able to give Kara back a piece of her lost culture, something that bound their connection to each other even more tightly for the rest of their lives, felt like the best gift Alex could get. And all the _truly_ important people, the ones who knew everything there was to know about the lives of Alex Grey and Kara Zor-El Danvers, would be there. That was what mattered most.

"Okay, fine. I'm going to try on my stupid wedding dress. Don't screw anything up while I'm gone." Alex rolled her eyes, still smiling as she strode out of the DEO towards the sunlight above.

…...

That night Alex was twitchy and anxious, a condition which Kara chalked up to the mounting pressure to stop Myriad and the enslavement of the human race to Non's sadistic whims. But even though she was wrong about the reason for her fiancee's stress, her cure was still spot-on—lots and lots of orgasms. The best cure for any kind of stress, really. In the morning, Alex woke Kara up with breakfast in bed, and since it was Sunday and they had no plans as far as Kara knew, the blonde girl decided to repay her fiancee's thoughtfulness with a few more rounds of naked playtime. The morning slipped away in what felt like minutes; and almost before she knew it, Alex's reminder alarm was beeping. She sighed and pulled herself unwillingly upright in the tangle of sheets and sweaty limbs on the bed.

"Why are you getting up?" Kara whined, reaching out a hand beseechingly to lure Alex back down to a horizontal position. "It's still early...we haven't had a lazy Sunday in forever. We haven't even done it on the ceiling yet, you know you love the head rush. Please come back to bed, Lexie?" Kara pouted her most adorable blue-eyed puppydog pout. Alex just smiled, her pale face flushed pink.

"Well Kar, we're actually not having a lazy Sunday today, either...but we are having something you'll like even better. Go get in the shower, okay? We have somewhere to be. Soon."

"Where?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"That information is classified, ma'am," Alex said in a very deadpan tone, the sparkle in her eyes the only giveaway of her glee.

"Oh is that so?" Kara huffed, flabbergasted. She sat up in bed and crossed her arms, trying to look annoyed; but that was hard while naked and sweaty after hours of sex.

"Yes. It is." Alex leaned in and kissed her blondie one last time, for strength; then she slipped out of bed and pulled on her robe.

 _"Lexieeeee,"_ Kara whined.

"Shower. Scoot. I promise it'll be worth it." Alex smiled encouragingly, tying the sash on her robe.

"I doubt it. You're not naked anymore."

"Just go get in the shower."

"Aren't you coming _with_ me?" Kara wheedled.

"Uh, no. I'm going _after_ you. I told you, we have someplace to be. And we're not gonna magically teleport there via shower sex."

"Now _that_ would be a cool power," Kara grinned. Alex burst out laughing. Kara leaned over the edge of the bed and kissed her...Alex was unresisting, melting against the blonde alien girl's always-warm skin. Then without warning, Kara pulled herself out of Alex's arms, leaving the dark-haired girl panting and flushed.

"Hey!" Alex whined.

 _"Now_ I'm getting in the shower," Kara smirked, jumping lightly out of bed and turning to give her flustered girl a smartass little wink before streaking out of the bedroom and into the shower.

…...

"...I still don't understand what we're doing in Midvale," Kara said as they touched down in front of her first earthly home. "If Eliza and Jeremiah wanted to talk to me, why didn't they just call me? Why would they call _you?_ And why won't you _tell_ me?"

"It's nothing bad, bluebird. I told you. _Urvish, zrhueiao._ " Alex unbuckled herself from the tandem flying harness, and pulled Kara around to face her for a soft, reassuring kiss.

"I _am_ calm," Kara grumbled, a slightly pouty smile tugging at the corner of her mouth when Alex released her. "I'm just confused."

"Well you won't be for much longer," Alex smiled, looking shy now as she took Kara's hand and tugged it towards the Danvers' front door. "C'mon bluebird." Smiling bemusedly, Kara allowed Alex to lead her into the house.

"Eliza? Jeremiah?" The blonde girl called as she walked through the door; but she could already tell from just a brief flash of her super-hearing that theirs were the only two heartbeats in the house.

"They're waiting for us. Everyone is." Alex beamed shyly, her face flushing pink and her heart rate picking up noticeably, at least to Kara.

"Everyone who? Waiting where?" Kara exclaimed impatiently, throwing up her hands.

"Just come get dressed," Alex grinned, leading Kara by the hand up to her old bedroom. As soon as Kara stepped across the threshold, she stopped dead, her eyes wide with disbelief. There, laid out on the bed, were a pair of matching Kryptonian wedding gowns. The sight of them flashed Kara's mind back to vivid memories of her lost home, family weddings she'd attended with her parents, the gleaming suits and gowns of fire-bright fabrics, iridescent red and orange and rich yellow. The design of the ceremonial gowns was familiar too; only one side had a sleeve, which wrapped around the arm with long tendrils of fire-fabric swirling down all the way to the ground, while the other arm was bare. And because they were _kri-zhao_ , a love match, they had special headpieces as well—thin chains of gold hanging from a huge, gleaming ruby set at the center, which they would wear over their foreheads; the chains would wrap around and clip to their hair in the back, uniting the many slender strands of gold together to cascade down their backs. Kara had never expected to see such clothes as these again. Tears welled up in her eyes before she could stop them.

"Oh, Lexie...what did you do?" Kara whispered, her voice full of awe as she looked up round-eyed at the girl she'd loved half her life. Alex brushed a tear from Kara's cheek with her thumb, and kissed her.

"Get dressed," she murmured again. Kara nodded, still dumbfounded, and they got dressed together without talking much, helping each other with the ornate gowns and the zippers.

"So where to next?" Kara asked when they were both perfectly attired. Both their knees were wobbling like jelly, though neither would rush to admit it.

"You know where," Alex said simply, stroking Kara's cheek and leaning in to kiss her; but Kara jerked back with a little squeak, a gut reaction that bubbled up to the surface after so many years.

"Alex! We're in our wedding clothes!"

"Does that mean we can't kiss?" Alex frowned, raising one eyebrow skeptically.

"It means we can't kiss...until we're married," Kara murmured, her voice calm with certainty now as she leaned in very close to the girl she'd loved from her first earthly breath, running her fingertips lightly over Alex's lips. She smiled. "And you're right...I do know where we're going." Without waiting for an answer, Kara scooped Alex up and shot out the window with her. They'd left their flying harness behind...but they didn't really need it. This was a very short trip.

…...

Kara brought them down to the ground about two dozen feet away from Alex's old studying tree...which looked very different from the last time they saw it. There was an enormous, diamond-like jewel embedded into the ground below the tree, large enough for two people to stand on, like a raised platform. Beside the jewel platform stood Clark— _Kal El_ , Kara reminded herself now, as he stood there decked in the ceremonial white robes of the House of El, the coat of arms pressed into the chest. A path of paper lanterns hung on either side of them, leading them straight from the spot where they were standing, to the spot where the jewel stood. The sun was perfectly centered in the sky above them, high noon; and in a semicircle around their tree stood all the people that Kara and Alex loved best, the ones who truly knew them: Kara's foster parents, Alex's parents, Meredith; Winn, James and Lucy; Ms. Grant and Carter, who stood very proudly in his white suit, looking very much like a ring-bearer with a velvet box laid atop a red satin pillow in his arms. There was J'onn, beaming at them, but also holding a kryptonite dart gun; because beside him was Astra. In kryptonite-lined handcuffs, of course. But even so—for J'onn to allow this, basically granting her the DEO version of "furlough" from her prison sentence in order to attend her niece's wedding...it was beyond anything Kara had ever expected. Her heart felt so full, she thought it would burst. She noticed that her aunt held a ceremonial Kryptonian flute in her hands; and despite her handcuffs, she had no problem holding up the flute and beginning the traditional wedding processional melody. The sound of it brought tears to Kara's eyes, and she let them slide down her face without shame.

"I can't believe this is happening," the blonde girl whispered, relying completely on Alex to keep her moving forward as her brain had almost definitely lost contact with her feet. When they finally reached the end of the lantern-laden path, they both stepped up to the enormous Jewel of Truth and Honor, embedded into the ground below their old studying tree. Astra stopped playing. Their small but treasured group of guests all took their seats. Superman smiled up at them; they were a couple of feet taller than him now, up on their platform.

"In the name of truth and honor I declare the marriage vows binding upon you," Clark said solemnly, with deep warmth in his eyes. "From this day forward, throughout all time and space, even unto eternity…" Alex lost track of her soon-to-be-cousin's ceremonial words, as she gazed into Kara's bottomless blue eyes, and the rest of the world fell away. She was dimly aware of Carter holding up his velvet box to Clark, who opened it to reveal two matching bracelets of sunstone and bloodstone, swirling around and around each other in an infinite loop. Tiny Kryptonese writing swirled around as well, ancient verses of devotion from the sacred text of Kri-Zhao.

"These are Kara and Alex's marriage bracelets," Clark said, holding up the two slender stone bracelets. "They may not be replicated, nor worn by any other. For Kara, sunstone, for her strength, for the radiance of the sun and the fire of Rao." He put one of the bracelets in Kara's hand. "For Alex, bloodstone; for her courage, tenacity, and the depth of her love for Kara, the last daughter of Krypton." He put the other bracelet in Alex's hand. Ms. Grant and Mrs. Grey both started to cry. Eliza was holding out; but she was squeezing her husband's hand so hard he wished she _would_ just cry.

"Kara Zor-El Danvers," Clark said solemnly, looking at Kara, "is it your wish this day to become one with this woman before you, in the sacred bonds of marriage and kri-zhao, unto your final breath and the kingdom of light beyond?"

"It is my wish," Kara agreed, quietly but clearly, her eyes shining like never before as she took Alex's hand and slid the bracelet onto her wrist. They kept their hands clasped tightly together.

"Alexandra Caroline Grey," Clark turned to address Alex, flashing back to the sharp-eyed little girl he'd met beside the smoking remains of Kara's pod, on this very spot, all those years ago. "Is it your wish this day to become one with this woman before you, in the sacred bonds of marriage and kri-zhao, unto your final breath and the kingdom of light beyond?"

"It is my wish," Alex agreed, her dark eyes glittering with elation as she took Kara's gentle, unbreakable hand, and slipped her marriage bracelet onto it.

"Then you are made one this day–and for all days hence. May the countenance of Rao ever shine on you." For some reason that she would never be able to fully explain, Kara burst into tears and laughter at the same time, grabbing Alex's face in both hands and kissing her deeply. Their friends and family clapped and cheered, but the two young women in gowns of fire were oblivious of everything but each other.

"We're married," Kara grinned stupidly when she came up for air, breathless from the power of that kiss.

"We're married," Alex agreed, her broad smile just as goofy and disbelieving. They both looked like they'd just been hit in the face with something heavy. "You're not mad I surprised you?"

"Mad...Lexie..." Kara shook her head, speechless. "I could not be less mad if my life depended on it," the blonde girl laughed, and they kissed again, still standing on their raised jewel platform. Suddenly, the giant gem began to glow, sending out a wave of brilliant white light in every direction. The guests all ooohed and murmured speculatively. Kara laughed against Alex's lips.

"Wow...it worked...you got the real Jewel of Truth and Honor, didn't you? From the fortress of solitude?"

"Clark did," Alex nodded shyly. "I figured if it wasn't okay, he'd have told me. _Is_ it okay?"

"It's better than okay," Kara beamed, cupping Alex's cheek in one hand, and then sliding it back into her hair. "We made it glow...we really did...we really are kri-zhao, Lex. We really are."

"I know," Alex nodded, beaming shyly.

"But the Jewel knows, too. That's...not something that happens every day. Even on Krypton. I never actually saw it before...I only heard that that's what happens when true kri-zhao have their marriage kiss on the Jewel of Truth and Honor."

"Well...from where I'm standing, that jewel is _very_ truthful and honorable," Alex said in mock-seriousness. Kara laughed, and slipped her hand into her wife's, pulling her down from the broad top of the jewel so they could toast their awaiting friends and family.


	23. Forever Young

Hello my dears! I don't really have any author's note to give today, so just enjoy :)

…

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 23: Forever Young**

…

"This is so freaking cool, I can't believe we're here," Kara gushed, squeezing Alex's arm in childlike excitement. "Look, I can see it already! I can see the top of the pyramids!" Her smile was almost bigger than her face as she bounced in her seat on the rickety old bus slowly rumbling through the Yucatan mountains, bringing them from the tiny Mexican airport to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a place they'd both wanted to visit ever since they learned about the ancient Mayan ruins in 8th grade history class.

"So you're definitely not mad I planned our wedding _and_ our honeymoon without you?" Alex teased, already knowing the answer as she raised an eyebrow playfully at her overexcited alien, taking Kara's hand and pulling it into her lap, running her nails lightly up and down the bare skin of her blonde girl's inner arm. Kara grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

"Not mad," the blonde girl murmured, leaning in and kissing her wife lightly. Alex made a soft, unconscious sound of contentment, savoring Kara's warm breath on her lips. "And anyway…" Kara pulled away just slightly, grazing her teeth over the edge of Alex's ear. The dark-haired girl shuddered pleasurably. "You know I like surprises when they come from you, Lex."

"Yeah." Alex grinned stupidly, her happiness radiating from her dark eyes for anyone to see. "I do know. I know you, Kara Grey-Danvers. Inside out." They giggled and kissed again, Alex twirling a lock of long blonde hair around her finger.

"I really like hearing that," Kara sighed, reflecting Alex's goofy-happy smile right back at her.

"I really like saying it," Alex agreed, both of them so lost in each other that they didn't even hear the driver announcing their stop. They _did_ notice when the rickety old bus lurched to a halt, though. "Oh! Are we here?" Alex looked up in surprise, realizing that the long dirt road had finally lead them to the little hotel where they'd be spending the next week, beautifully quaint, open-air lodgings with thatched roofs and huge windows covered only by mosquito netting; no glass. Bright blue and green peacocks strutted around the courtyard like pigeons, seeming fairly unconcerned about any human activity around them. It was perfect, just like they'd always imagined it.

"Señoritas, ésta es su parada, ¿no?" The driver asked politely, gesturing to their bags. _This is your stop?_ There were very few people on the bus, this far out in the jungle; and they were very obviously the only Americans, and this was the only hotel for miles.

"Si, por supuesto. Gracias," Alex smiled sheepishly, standing up from her seat and pulling Kara by the hand. _Yes, of course, thanks_. The man smiled genially, and nodded, insisting on carrying Kara and Alex's light suitcases off the bus for them despite their protests. When the bus pulled away, the colorful peacocks scattered into the nearby tree line; but in the branches above, a few small monkeys had appeared to investigate.

"Howler monkeys!" Kara squealed excitedly, pointing.

"Damn, they're cute," Alex smiled, her eyes following Kara's up into the trees.

"Not as cute as us," the blonde girl smirked, lacing their fingers together.

"Well duh." Alex rolled her eyes and cocked her head to one side teasingly. Kara leaned in and kissed her again.

"Best honeymoon ever," the young alien girl murmured, sighing happily. "Now c'mon, let's go check in so we can start exploring the jungle!"

…

Despite Kara's initial insistence that they should go exploring the moment they had checked in, they ended up spending their first day in the Yucatan completely in bed. Their little cabin was so beautiful and full of sunlight, and so private, surrounded by lush trees and vines and not another human soul in sight. It was simply too romantic to resist…and they didn't _want_ to resist. They only emerged when the need for food overpowered the need for sex, compelling them to the small restaurant attached to the main building of the hotel, three walls open to the jungle and covered only by net, just like their cabin. Exotic animals peeked out of the foliage around them while they ate, small deer with enormous ears and round, watchful eyes; little monkeys, odd, enchanting turkeys with bright blue and green feathers like the peacocks, toucans with giant beaks, even a tapir, which resembled nothing so much as a baby elephant with only half a trunk.

Once Kara had tried one of almost everything on the menu, and finally admitted that she couldn't eat another bite, they went for a walk in the twilight jungle, which turned into a flying session when Kara pointed out that there was absolutely no one around to spot them. They saw the Mayan pyramids they'd both been fascinated by since Junior High, but didn't come too close; they agreed that _flying_ to the top of the tallest pyramids in the western hemisphere would not be satisfying. They wanted to _climb_.

When twilight faded into the deep blackness of jungle night, they flew back to the ground, taking care not to fly too close to the little hotel; they might have _felt_ like the only people for a hundred miles, but they both knew that there were in fact other guests at the small resort, some of whom were more than likely to be looking up at the stars on such a dazzlingly clear night. Kara landed no more than a mile away from their little jungle oasis, both of them breathless and tingling with the heady rush that flying together always brought on.

"Let's never go back to civilization. Seriously. Let's stay right here for the rest of our lives," the blonde girl murmured, kissing Alex for all she was worth and pulling her down to the soft ground. "I have everything I need right here…"

"Hmmm…" Alex sighed, unresisting at first. After a minute of making out on the jungle floor at night, though, the dark-haired girl started to appreciate why everything at their quaint little hotel was covered in mosquito nets. She sat up regretfully on top of her beloved little alien, who whined in protest.

"What? What's wrong?" Kara pouted, the urgency practically vibrating in her clear blue eyes. Once she got wound up, she became very one-track-minded very fast. And this was their _honeymoon_.

"I'm getting eaten," Alex complained, scratching a bug bite on her arm. "I don't need civilization, but I do need the mosquito net."

"Aww, Lexie, I'm sorry," Kara sighed, sitting up with Alex still in her lap and levitating them both effortlessly to their feet. "I wasn't thinking."

"Oh yes you were. You were just thinking about something _else_ ," Alex teased, brushing a few twigs from Kara's long hair.

"Okay, if you want me to walk all the way back to the cabin with no makeout breaks, you _have_ to stop looking at me like that," the blonde girl huffed; but she was grinning.

"Like what?" Alex asked innocently.

"Like I'm dinner." Kara smiled wickedly.

"Well…you are very yummy," the dark-haired girl agreed, wrapping both arms around her beautiful bride's neck, and leaning in to nibble lightly on her throat.

"Thought…you were getting eaten…" Kara sighed, her knees turning to jelly as she dropped her head back, her will to resist fading fast.

"Don't care anymore. I'll just eat _you_ , then we'll be even…" Alex kissed Kara hard, and Kara pulled her back to the leaf-strewn jungle floor without another word. Soon they had their hands under each other's shirts again…but before they could start peeling their clothes off, they both heard a deep, rumbling sound close by, like a strange animal. A strange and _large_ animal. They sat bolt upright, their intensive combat training slicing through the playful haze of arousal like a hot knife.

"You heard that, right?" Kara panted slightly.

"I heard it," Alex agreed, reaching unconsciously for her gun even though it wasn't there. "Fuck. I don't have a weapon."

"C'mon baby, let's just go back to our cabin. Whatever it is, we should just leave it alone anyway." Kara tugged on Alex's hand, but Alex didn't move. She was staring into the darkness, silent and alert and listening. "Lexie, come _on,_ " Kara repeated, tugging a little harder.

"Shh," Alex whispered, an inscrutable expression on her face. Somehow, she sensed that this was not a normal jungle creature. The sound it was making…it was just…strange, somehow. Unearthly.

"Alexandra Grey-Danvers! Do not shush me!" Kara exclaimed indignantly, hands on her hips. "If you think being married means you get to order me around, well I've got news for you, missy…" Kara's rant was cut short by a loud, terrifying hissing sound from very close by, followed by a blur of motion as the huge creature launched itself at them from out of the darkness, catching Alex by the shoulders and smashing her to the ground. It happened so fast, the thing was no more than a blur of scaly blue and green limbs and sharp claws; it opened its huge mouth full of sharp teeth and gave another hissing roar in the young DEO agent's face, misting her with its spit. Before Alex could even think, the pressure of the huge creature crouched on top of her was instantly gone, as Kara flew at it and punched it, sending it flying back into the darkness with a feral howl of pain.

"Holy fuck, holy fuck," Alex panted weakly, flat on her back on the jungle floor, making no move to get up.

"Are you okay, baby?" Kara asked urgently, kneeling down and pulling Alex protectively into her arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was yelling at you when I should have been paying attention…"

"It's fine…I'm fine," Alex shook her head, trembling slightly against Kara's chest though she appeared unhurt. "That…was not a native species."

"No." Kara frowned. "It definitely wasn't."

"Did our honeymoon just turn into an alien retrieval mission?" Alex sighed despondently. Her dark eyes were full of starlight, already looking sad and regretful at the idea.

"No," Kara shook her head vehemently. "When we get back to the cabin, we'll call it in to the DEO. They do have other agents besides us, you know. Let J'onn handle it. _We_ are _on_ our _honeymoon_." She enunciated each word emphatically, blue eyes flashing with single-minded determination. Alex grinned crookedly, brushing a windswept lock of hair back from Kara's face.

"What was that you were just yelling at me about…? Something about how being married doesn't mean we can order each other around?"

"Oh, shut up," Kara huffed, her cheeks flushing pink. She felt almost weak with relief that the huge alien beast with the pointy teeth and sharp claws hadn't torn Alex to pieces.

"Yes mistress," Alex smirked. They both started to giggle.

"You're definitely not hurt?" Kara asked again, anxious and protective.

"Definitely not hurt," Alex agreed, reaching out and stroking Kara's cheek with her thumb. "Thanks to Supergirl."

"So…cabin?" Kara asked tentatively.

"Cabin," Alex nodded.

"More sex?"

 _"Lots_ more sex." They stood up giggling and brushing dirt and leaves from each other's clothes, as the shock of their unexpected encounter wore off and they prepared to return to their little hotel villa in the middle of the Yucatan jungle. Alex scratched a red welt on her shoulder.

"Aww, Lex, you're getting all bitten up," Kara sighed regretfully, having completely forgotten the reason they stopped to begin with.

"It's okay," Alex waved her hand dismissively. "Compared with the possibility of being eviscerated, somehow a few bug bites don't seem so bad now." Grinning, they laced their fingers together and walked back towards the hotel.

…

In the morning, Alex woke up in a pool of sweat. She felt antsy and tense and exhausted all at the same time, sort of like she'd been up all night cramming for a final and drinking black coffee. Beside her, Kara was sitting up in bed and quietly talking to J'onn on the Supergirl phone embedded in her earring.

"I already told you everything I saw, okay? I don't know, I don't know if it's sentient, I don't know…just send a team _now_. With medics. Something's wrong with Alex, she's sick…"

"I'm not sick," Alex mumbled, rubbing her eyes and trying to sit up. Immediately, her vision doubled and the sky began to spin around her. "Whoaaa." She immediately dropped back down against the pillows.

"J'onn, she's awake. Yes. Just keep me informed, okay?" Kara impatiently tapped her earring to sign off, stroking Alex's sweaty hair back with a smile full of love and reassurance. "Hey baby boo. How do you feel?"

"I'm not sick," Alex repeated, her hazel eyes still glazed and sleepy. "I just feel…weird."

"Yeah, well you probably have an alien virus, so the weird is pretty understandable," Kara sighed, still stroking Alex's hair tenderly. "We just have to hang tight for a little while, Lex. Then J'onn will be here for us, and we'll go back to the DEO and get you all fixed up. And alpha team will bag the freaky scaly thing that jumped you, so we can figure out what it did to you and how to make you all better."

"I _told_ you, I'm _not_ sick," Alex huffed weakly, still managing to look annoyed. Kara sighed. She knew Alex hated admitting she was sick, but this was just ridiculous.

"Lexie, let's skip this argument, just this once, okay? You're burning up, your temp is going through the roof. An unknown alien sprayed its unknown cooties in your face, and eight hours later you're a puddle of sweat that can't stand up. Please, just lie still and let me take care of you till J'onn gets here?"

"I can stand up," Alex whined resentfully, already forgetting that she couldn't even sit up in bed a minute ago. Without stopping for further debate, she pushed herself up and tried to swing her legs over the side; and then the room was spinning again, and Kara caught her before she could hit the floor.

"It's okay, shh, I got you," the blonde girl murmured protectively, too worried to be annoyed with Alex's sullen attitude.

"Okay…I can't stand up," Alex admitted with a sigh as Kara laid her back lovingly against the bed. "But I'm not sick, Kar. I'm really not. Something…something weird is happening to me…"

"Can you describe it to me?" Kara asked gently, still confident that Alex simply didn't know what every single alien illness in the galaxy felt like; but maybe if she could describe it, it could help J'onn and the team know what they were looking for, know what to do to make Alex better before she was cooked alive by her rising fever.

"I just feel…speedy…jittery…like too much coffee…all shaky, tense…and tingly, and hot…it's like…it's like…" Alex's voice trailed off into a shriek of pain, as her entire body seemed to tighten and contract, every muscle from head to toe spasming at once as she curled in on herself. Kara held her hand, terrified and confused as she watched the love of her life screaming and writhing in pain, with no idea what was causing it.

"Okay…okay…you're okay," Kara soothed when Alex's body finally went limp, and her screams faded into shaky panting.

"Jesus…fuck…what the fuck is happening," the dark-haired girl croaked, slightly hoarse from screaming.

"I don't know, baby, but we're gonna find out. I promise, we'll figure this out…" Kara's hand was threading gently through Alex's hair again, desperate to soothe her somehow…and then she frowned, holding out a strand of Alex's dark hair and staring at it. "Did your hair just get longer?"

"Sure. Okay," Alex mumbled flippantly.

"No, Lex, I'm serious. Your hair just grew about four inches in the last minute. Look, feel it." Kara took Alex's hand and put it in her hair; and Alex frowned in confusion, the same as Kara had done.

"Well that's weird," Alex admitted.

"Officially weird," Kara agreed, trying not to sound too worried.

"Kar, I'm really thirsty…and hungry…"

"Good! Hungry is good! I'll call room service," Kara smiled, relieved to have something tangible to do. And though it seemed selfish to admit it, she was really hungry, too.

…

By the time J'onn and the DEO team arrived, it was evening, and Alex's hair was at least a foot longer than it had been when she woke up. She'd had several more episodes of intense, blinding pain that made her curl up in a twitching ball and scream her head off, each one followed by immediate, voracious hunger and thirst. Her body temp was still high, but it seemed to have leveled out at some point and was holding steady, neither going up or back down. Kara was willing to admit by this point that Alex might be right; she wasn't sick, at least not in any way that Kara had ever seen or heard of. Sick people didn't eat like they'd just run a 12K marathon, every two hours. But _something_ was physically wrong with her. Very wrong.

"Room service. Somebody order a helicopter?" J'onn opened the door to their little cabin with a grim smile, trying to keep the mood light for Alex's sake. She was his protégé, practically a daughter to him; he hated to see her in pain like this, pale and shaking in a pool of sweat.

"Hey. It's J'onn," Alex murmured, her voice croaky from screaming all day.

"How's my top agent?" He asked, with a fatherly smile as he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his hand lightly on her back. It was very hot.

"Not totally awesome," Alex admitted with a deep sigh. "Definitely sub-awesome. You?"

"I'll be better once we bag and tag the thing that attacked you," J'onn said, his voice conveying the utmost confidence that this was not a question, but a foregone conclusion. "For now, the med team's going to come get you out of here, and I'll follow with alpha team when we have the creature in containment. We'll figure out how to fix this, Alex."

"I know, I know," Alex whined, sounding resentful and adolescent. "You don't have to talk to me like I'm a dumb kid."

"I wasn't," J'onn assured her, chalking up her sullenness to the amount of pain and confusion she was experiencing. But he also noticed—he couldn't possibly not notice—how long her hair had gotten; much longer than he'd ever seen in the time he'd known her. But he _had_ seen it this length in some old pictures of Kara and Alex from high school.

There was something else that seemed different about her appearance, besides the length of her hair; but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He studied her closely; she looked like Alex, even with her dark hair falling past her shoulders in waves now. Then the med team came bustling in with a rolling gurney from the helicopter, and three medics were hovering over her, taking her vitals and distracting her long enough for Kara to slip around to J'onn's side and ask him quietly, "…Does she look younger to you?"

That was it. The indefinable change that he couldn't explain. It was subtle; she wasn't any shorter, and people in their mid-twenties often passed for teenagers anyway, there was nothing specific to pinpoint. But she was. Younger. Sixteen, seventeen maybe; eighteen at the most.

"I know what we're looking for," J'onn said suddenly.

…

It was early evening when the DEO helicopter took off from the Yucatan jungle, meeting up with a much faster, medical military jet in Baja that took them the rest of the way back to National City, by which time it was past three am. Alex fell asleep intermittently through the journey, exhausted by the stress her body was undergoing; but she woke up screaming and thrashing each time the pain hit, signifying a fresh round of the biochemical feedback loop she'd been trapped in since her encounter with the Legelian. That was what the creature was called, according to J'onn, who described in perfect detail the alien they'd seen once he saw what was happening to Alex. Its home world was Selubol VIII, a distant planet in a distant corner of the galaxy where no Kryptonian had visited. The big, scary spikes on its reptilian back were not weapons at all, as it turned out, but rather pheromone receptors for its symbiant—a parasitic lifeform without which their species was unable to breed. As there were no such creatures here on earth, the Legelian had apparently been wandering the jungles of Central America for years, possibly decades, continually in the agitated state of seeking to complete its breeding and regeneration cycle—it was, essentially, in heat.

J'onn's theory was that alpha team would find more than a few wild animals in the jungle that had befallen the same fate as Alex—debilitated and de-aging from exposure to the alien's pheromone spray, which was its catalyst for both breeding and rejuvenation, like a snake, shedding its skin every few months. But the Legelian was not biologically compatible with any species on this planet. By coming into contact with the alien's rejuvenation pheromones, which oscillated on multivalent quantum frequencies and amplitudes, the normal quantum resonance of Alex's DNA has been destabilized. In the simplest terms, her body was moving backwards on a cellular level.

By the time they got her into the DEO med bay, there was no further question that this was the answer to what was happening to Alex; within a period of roughly thirty-six hours from the time of exposure to the creature, she'd de-aged about half her lifespan, from twenty-five to somewhere around twelve. She looked like the kid who Kara remembered standing over her pod on the day she'd crash landed in Midvale, scared and alone until she saw those bright, curious hazel eyes looking down at her, full of warmth and reassurance.

Only now there was no brightness in the dark eyes Kara knew so well, except for the fever-glaze of her elevated body temp, caused by the accelerated metabolic rate the creature's pheromones were imposing on her biology. Just like Kara, whose natural metabolic rate was also much faster than a human's—her body temp was, likewise, a couple of degrees higher. But this _wasn't_ natural for _Alex's_ biorhythm, it was taxing and exhausting, using up all the energy in her body faster than she could replace it. They'd put her on IV fluids and nutrition in the medevac, but it didn't seem to be helping very much. Seeing Alex like this, a helpless kid screaming in pain, weak and shaking in a feverish pool of sweat, made Kara's heart tear in more directions than she even knew she could feel. All she could do was murmur empty reassurances, letting Alex curl up in her arms, stroking her long waves of dark hair while she cried and trembled helplessly.

"Stop it, leave us alone," little Alex mumbled hoarsely as the medics wheeled her out of the medevac jet and into the DEO, where the med bay was already set up for her.

"It's okay Lex, we made it home. You'll be okay now," Kara murmured, rubbing her back lightly. Despite not wanting Kara to leave her alone on the gurney for even a minute, Alex had displayed a profound level of tactile sensitivity, which wasn't surprising considering the level of cellular flux her body was experiencing. Kara had to be very, very gentle when she touched Alex, so as not to cause her any further pain.

"Kara? …Is this real life?" Alex asked woozily, half-asleep as she rubbed her eyes and blinked up at the blonde girl blearily. She looked about ten years old now, younger than Kara had ever seen her in their life together. Even as a child, she was stoic; Kara had always known that. The pain in her eyes was obvious, but she never complained. She cried when she couldn't bear it anymore; but she never complained, not once.

"Yeah, baby. This is real life," Kara sighed, wishing she could give a different answer. "But we're back at the DEO now, Dr. Schwartzman is gonna take good care of you. I promise. We'll get you through this, you'll be good as new before you know it."

"Don't leave, 'kay?" Ten-year-old Alex whispered, her hot face resting limply on Kara's collarbone.

"Of course I'm not leaving," Kara assured her, sifting her fingers gently through her love's dark hair, even softer than it usually was now that it had been rejuvenated over and over again, youthful and vibrant.

"Even if there's an alien…or a terrorist attack…"

"Even if there's an alien or a terrorist attack," Kara promised, kissing the top of Alex's head. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Lexie. I promise."

"'Kay…good," Alex sighed, wrapping her small hand tightly into the fabric of Kara's t-shirt. Her fears momentarily soothed, and the pain beginning to fade, ten-year-old Alex drifted back to sleep, curled up on top of Kara like a kitten. Dr. Schwartzman came over and hooked a fresh IV bag up to the pole beside the bed, and after giving it a little tap to ensure it was flowing properly, the doctor glanced up at the sleeping girl's vital signs on the computer monitor.

"How's she doing, doc?" Kara asked quietly.

"Her vitals are strong…she's a fighter," the doctor sighed, taking in the sheen of sweat covering the pale, sleeping child.

"That's not an answer."

"I know. I wish I had a real answer for you, Kara," Dr. Schwartzman shook her head. "But the truth is, we really don't know. She's stable for now; that's all I can say for sure. Based on the data the med team recorded on the flight back, it seems that she's losing a year roughly every three hours—so, in theory, we have about thirty hours left to find a treatment to reverse the Legelian's pheromonal catalyst. That's assuming her body can endure the stress that long. The younger she gets, the more dramatically her cells are being altered; she could have a heart attack, she could go into shock, her organs could start shutting down. There's just no precedent for the kind of physical stress her body is experiencing."

Kara nodded silently, appreciating the doctor's honesty though her eyes still filled with exhausted tears at the thought of Alex enduring any more pain than she already had. "We've only been married for three days," she whispered, her arms circling more protectively around Alex's smaller body. "I'm not ready to be a widow…"

"We're not going to let that happen, Kara." The doctor put a reassuring hand on the blonde girl's arm. "She's strong. And we're stubborn. I've got the whole med team on this, we're studying what we know of Legelian physiology from the DEO database and looking for a catalytic reversal agent. If J'onn can get back with blood and tissue samples soon, it will speed things up significantly."

"I just hope you can move as fast as she's moving," Kara sighed, her hand slipping mindlessly through Alex's hair again. The dark-haired girl began to twitch and whimper in her sleep; Kara tensed worriedly, knowing what was coming. "It's happening again," she said quietly to the doctor, who had not yet seen one of Alex's cellular flux episodes up close.

"Ow, ow, stop…please make it stop," Alex whimpered, waking up in a haze of pain yet again, her tears soaking into Kara's shirt.

"I'm here Lexie, I'm here," Kara cooed gently, holding Alex steady on the bed while her muscles twitched and thrashed in agony. "It's going to pass, just breathe honey…" Alex was sobbing, beyond words now as the pain overtook her whole body. Her temperature spiked, all the monitors beeping frantically as the med team swarmed around them. Kara could _feel_ Alex's body shrinking in her arms now; the younger she got, the more dramatic the physiological changes, just as Dr. Schwartzman had noted. She was literally slipping away, and there was nothing Kara could do to stop it. After a few agonizing minutes that felt like hours, Alex stopped thrashing, her breathing shallow and labored like she'd just been held underwater or tortured.

"Let's get some ice over here," the doctor calmly instructed her team, pressing her stethoscope against Alex's back to hear her heart rate. Little Alex flinched and screamed in Kara's arms.

"Don't!" she shrieked, kicking out blindly to push the doctor's hands and tools away.

"Shh," Kara whispered, cupping one hand gently against the back of Alex's head in reassurance. Looking up at the doctor, she explained apologetically, "her skin is very sensitive now, especially right after the…episodes. Try to use the lightest touch possible, please."

"Okay," Dr. Schwartzman nodded patiently, bending down so she was face to face with the teary-eyed child that was their top field agent. "I'm sorry, Alex. I'll be as gentle as possible, okay?"

"'Kay," Alex whispered, sniffling and panting. "I'm sorry…I'm s'pozed to be brave…"

"You don't have to be brave right now, _zrhueiao,_ " Kara murmured, kissing the top of her dark head. "You don't have to be anything. I got you, I'm right here, I'm not gonna leave you alone. Not today, not ever."

"What if the doctors can't fix me…what if I'm a kid forever?" Alex whispered, wiping her nose on the back of her hand as the tears continued to spill down her cheeks into Kara's shirt. "You…you can't be married to a kid…"

"You're not a kid," Kara smiled gently, trailing her fingertips lightly, so lightly, over Alex's trembling back. "You just look like one."

"No, Kar…it's…it's more than that," Little Lexie shook her head weakly, her hand reaching out to hold a lock of Kara's blonde hair in search of more comfort. "I…I can still remember everything…I remember…my life…I know I'm…I'm a grownup. But it feels so far away…I _feel_ like I'm just a kid. I'm sorry, Kara, I'm sorry…"

"Hush, don't say that," Kara shook her head, stroking Alex's hair gently again. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, sweet girl…this isn't your fault, you didn't do anything to make this happen. Please just let us take care of you, baby…it'll be okay, you'll be okay."

"'Kay," Alex whispered, wiping her nose on her hand again. "Kara?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you…are you still my bluebird?" Alex's small voice was vulnerable and uncertain.

"Always," Kara murmured, her voice quiet but full of emotion as she kissed the top of Alex's head again. "Now try to rest a little, okay baby?"

"Will you _…*snf*…_ will you sing?" Alex asked shyly, holding onto the fabric of Kara's shirt again as if afraid she'd disappear.

"For you, anytime anywhere," Kara smiled softly, hugging Alex's small, shaking body a little tighter against her chest. She sang until the shaking relaxed, finally, into sleep; and after almost two days without any sleep herself, Kara soon followed.

…

When Kara woke up, Alex was crying again, worse than ever; the uncontrollable sobbing of a young child in unbearable pain. It sliced Kara's heart right in half before her eyes were even open. J'onn was sitting beside them, she realized as she blinked sleepily and took in the room around them, the beeping of the equipment and the urgent voices of the DEO medics. Kara looked into his dark eyes, and saw the worry; so they hadn't found a cure, not yet.

"Breathe Lexie…breathe," Kara hummed softly, stroking the long dark hair fanned out across her chest as Alex thrashed weakly on top of her, screaming inconsolably.

"It has to stop now," the dark-haired girl whispered, her voice more childlike than ever. It was more than just her voice; it was the panic and the pain and the unselfconscious vulnerability, right out in the open in front of everyone. Alex had always been stoic, always; even when they were kids. The day of the car accident by the beach in 7th grade, when her arm got sliced open and needed 27 stitches—she didn't cry. But she was thirteen then; now she looked half that age, no more than seven. Maybe even six. Too young to be stoic; she was physically, neurologically unable to hold back any of the pain she was experiencing.

"I don't want it to happen again, Kara…just make it _stop_ …"

"We're trying, honey. We're trying as hard as we can," Kara murmured protectively, looking back at J'onn's grim expression over the top of Alex's dark head, slumped limp against her chest.

"Try _harder,_ " Alex whined, her voice pleading.

"We will, baby girl…we will," Kara promised, sitting up a little against the bed and rocking Alex's frail little body gently in her arms. She was too skinny, she looked like an abused child who'd been locked in a closet without food for days, weeks. The IV nutrition they were pumping into her couldn't keep up with her unnaturally enhanced metabolism.

"Kara…I'm thirsty," little Alex mumbled, with a dry cough.

"J'onn will get you some water," Kara promised soothingly, rubbing her back until she stopped coughing.

"I don't want water," seven-year-old Alex whined. "Can I have root beer?"

"I'll go see what I can find," J'onn smiled, crouching down by the bed to be on eye-level with the dark-haired little girl. "I know you're scared, Alex." He tapped his temple, reminding her of his psychic abilities, that he could hear her thoughts. "It's okay to be scared. Just don't give up, okay kiddo? Because we're not giving up on _you_."

"'Kay," Alex whispered, with a brave attempt at a smile as J'onn winked at her and walked away toward the vending machines in the corridor. "Kara…"

"What is it, baby?"

"You…you have to promise…"

"I'm not leaving you Lexie. I already promised"—but Alex cut her off.

"No—not that. Promise me that if I…if I die…"

"You are _not_ gonna die, Lex. That is not going to happen," Kara said vehemently, unconsciously hugging Alex's limp body a little tighter in her arms.

 _"If_ I die," Alex continued stubbornly, "You have to promise you won't be sad forever. Promise…you'll find someone else, 'kay? I don't want you to be alone forever…my bluebird…"

"I'm not going to promise you that, because it's not going to happen," Kara half-snarled, shaking her head. "You are _going_ to be _fine_ , Alex. Do you hear me?"

"Promise," Alex whispered stubbornly.

"Lexie…"

 _"Promise,"_ Alex repeated, managing to sound emphatic despite how weak and croaky her little voice was.

"Okay…I…I promise," Kara gulped, swallowing hard to push back the tears. She had to be strong for Alex now; she could cry later.

"Hold…my hand," Alex murmured, her breathing shallow as she opened her hand, too weak to even reach for Kara's. The blonde girl slipped Alex's small, hot hand into her own, unable to lace their fingers together the way they normally did, because her hand was so much larger than Alex's now.

"You have to hang on, Lexie, you have to keep fighting…" Kara's warm, familiar voice was full of love, and Alex smiled weakly as her eyes slipped closed. She didn't have the energy to talk anymore; but she didn't feel scared now. Safe in Kara's arms, she drifted away into the peacefully beckoning darkness.

…

When Alex opened her eyes again, it felt like a long time had passed. Her whole body felt stiff, like she hadn't moved a muscle in hours…days, even. Her memory felt fuzzy, she wasn't sure what was real…except that she was in the DEO med bay, and she definitely had her own, full-sized adult body. Was all of that real, or had she dreamed it? Had she really been a child the last time she closed her eyes?

"Kara…?" She mumbled croakily, suddenly realizing how dry her mouth was.

"Hey there, soldier." It wasn't Kara, but their chief medical officer who smiled down at her reassuringly. "It's good to see those eyes again. How do you feel?"

"Sore," Alex said after a moment's assessment. "Where's Kara…"

"At work, at CatCo. She wouldn't leave your side for three days, but J'onn finally kicked her out once you were on the mend. You've been in a medically induced coma for a week."

"A…a week?" Alex repeated weakly, disbelieving. "What the hell happened…"

"You don't remember?" Dr. Schwartzman raised an eyebrow, still wary of brain damage or memory loss after Alex's unique ordeal.

"No, I do…at least I think I do. It seems so crazy now, though…maybe it was just a dream?"

"It wasn't a dream. And you were a very cute kid." The doctor winked teasingly. Alex groaned and pulled a pillow over her head.

It didn't take more than three minutes for Kara to appear by her side; she'd obviously left her desk at CatCo in a hurry when she heard Alex was awake. The blonde girl was nothing but a blur of motion as she streaked through the DEO halls to the med bay, stopping dead in her tracks at Alex's bedside.

"Hey babe," Alex smiled sheepishly, feeling suddenly embarrassed as all the jumbled memories of her helpless, involuntary second childhood spent entirely in Kara's arms flooded back to the forefront of her mind. "Check me out, all full-sized and shit." Kara burst into tears. "Hey, it's okay, I'm okay. I'm fine." Alex held out her arms, and Kara flew into them, sobbing inconsolably.

"You…m-made me p-promise…not to be sad if you died," Kara choked through her tears, her hands running everywhere over Alex's body, as if convincing herself that her wife was really all there.

"I'm sorry, bluebird," Alex smiled weakly.

"Well you should be sorry, you big jerk! You are _not_ allowed to die!" Kara half-yelled, raising her tear-streaked face from Alex's neck with a slightly hysterical gleam in her blue eyes.

"Ever?" Alex asked jokingly. Kara sniffled and rolled her eyes.

"Well…ask me again after our 60th wedding anniversary, okay?"

"Okay," Alex nodded, smiling in agreement. Then suddenly her dark eyes went wide in horror, and the smile slid from her face. "Oh, fuck me…our honeymoon…I wrecked our honeymoon. Like _epically_ wrecked. Like, people who go on cruises where the whole ship gets food poisoning will still be like, yeah, well at least it wasn't as bad as Alex and Kara's honeymoon." The dark-haired girl groaned and smacked her hand against her forehead. Kara reached out and gently pulled it away again.

"Lexie…I don't care about the goddam honeymoon," the blonde girl shook her head, regaining her calm the longer Alex babbled.

"No?"

"Nope," Kara shook her head seriously. "I just care about my wife." They grinned at each other shyly. "And now that you're no longer jailbait, will you please kiss me so we can live happily ever after?"

"You're such a dork," Alex smiled goofily, and kissed her. Neither of them had noticed the doctors and medics all discreetly leaving the room, pulling the privacy curtain closed behind them.


	24. Myriad Part 1

Hello Supergang!

Please accept my humble apologies for our two-month hiatus. Hopefully the extra-long update will make up slightly for the extra-long wait. If I were rich and could do whatever I wanted all the time…well, I'd still do other stuff, but I'd also do a lot more of THIS. Thanks for staying on board the faithful USS Kalex! Enjoy the update my dears :)

A/N: obviously there are some spoilers for Myriad in this chap! (As if you couldn't figure that out from the title, heh). But it's still set in my AU Kalex-canon world, so different storyline. Fair warning.

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 24: Myriad (Part 1)**

…...

Kara was at her desk at CatCo, working on her latest article in the _Aliens are People_ series, when her Supergirl phone went off. Knowing it had to be something serious for J'onn to interrupt her work day, the blonde girl jumped up and ran to Ms. Grant's office before she answered, so none of her co-workers could overhead her conversation.

"J'onn? What is it, what's happening?" Kara paced the floor of Ms. Grant's office; the older blonde gave her young protégé a meaningful look at the unannounced disruption, but stayed respectfully silent.

"Our friends in hoods are back," J'onn said grimly, referring to the recent KKK attacks on National City, which had been made even more deadly and frightening by the acquisition of some serious alien weaponry—almost certainly from the hands of General Lane, though they still had no hard proof. "We're getting intel from all over the country, Kara. They're attacking aliens exclusively. And thanks to their shiny new intergalactic toys, they could do some serious damage. We're looking at mass-murder…even genocide."

"How…how can they be attacking just aliens? How do they even know where to _find_ all the aliens?" Kara asked in confusion, shaking her head incredulously. "Most of them can't be identified on sight, they look human. Like us."

"I think it's a safe bet that alien weapons tech isn't the only thing General Lane has been sharing with the Great White Hope," J'onn rumbled stonily, his voice controlled but deadly serious.

"The Alien Amnesty Act," Kara whispered, her eyes widening in horror. This was exactly what so many in the underground alien community had feared, why so many still hadn't registered for US citizenship under the Alien Amnesty Act's political protections. Because a list of every alien in the country…in the wrong hands, could quickly become the most frightening threat of all. Then an even more immediate thought made Kara jolt in horror. "Lyra! Winn's girlfriend—she's registered for alien amnesty, J'onn."

"Go find her, make sure she's safe. I'm going to fly to Chicago, there's a major attack happening there. I'm leaving Alex in charge of HQ, I don't know how long I'll be gone."

"I'll come help you as soon as I know the aliens here are safe," Kara agreed quickly, already antsy to be out the window.

"Copy that. Stay sharp, Danvers. Watch your six. You know you're the biggest prize of all for these bastards. They could be expecting you."

"Oh, I am definitely not going to give them _anything_ they're expecting," Kara growled stonily, her blue eyes hardening with resolve. "Don't worry, chief. I'll catch up with you soon."

"Acknowledged." J'onn ended the call without any fuss, obviously anxious to get flying himself. Kara looked over at Ms. Grant, debating how much, if anything, she ought to tell her boss, the media mogul of National City. Technically, this information was all classified…but, pragmatically, the best way for CatCo to help avert disaster was to warn people. Kara chewed her lip.

"Don't bother wondering how much you should tell me, I think I can get there on my own," Ms. Grant said grimly, folding her arms and sitting back in her expensive leather chair. "Lacking government support for his… _racial cleansing_ …General Lane has conspired with the KKK again, and shared the names of all the aliens in the country who have registered under the Alien Amnesty Act. As well as every bit of advanced alien weapons technology he's ever laid his hateful little hands on."

"You _are_ a good journalist," Kara sighed, shaking her head as she took off her glasses and handed them to Ms. Grant for safekeeping.

"I'm aware." The older blonde smiled acerbically. "Now go, save the city. I'll put out a warning about the attacks. Obviously I can't share anything that could be characterized as speculation. But the attacks themselves—we can warn people." Kara nodded, smiling gratefully, and shot out the window, her work clothes landing inelegantly on Ms. Grant's head.

"Excuse me! Watch the hair!" the boss lady complained as Kara zoomed off, knowing the young superhero could still hear her. "Some of us aren't genetically immune to split ends, you know!"

…...

It took Kara less than two minutes to find Lyra. The Valerian refugee from Starhaven was at work when they came for her, at the dive bar where she and Winn first met. She wasn't the only alien who spent time there, either. Kara had been sure this would be one of the first places the KKK would attack if ever they had the firepower. _No more IF about that_ , the blonde girl thought to herself stonily as she crashed through the already bashed-in door of the bar.

"Hey!" Kara snarled, picking up a fallen bottle of tequila and chucking it at one of the white hoods, currently focused on shooting aliens with some kind of electric-blue energy ray. He went down like a stone, his human skull as fragile as any other despite the badass weapon in his hands.

"Kara, look out!" Lyra screamed from behind the bar, her pale skin and ice-blue eyes just visible around the side. But Kara barely had a chance to turn and look behind her—even at superhuman speed—before a huge, glowing green net of Kryptonite webbing was thrown over her body, sending her crashing to the floor in agony. It was pain beyond pain, she couldn't even hear her own screaming—then suddenly, the net was gone. Kara looked up, panting, to see Lyra standing over her, looking scared but exhilarated at her own actions. The Valerian girl had a sharp wit for sure, but she'd never been a fighter. She was a refugee. But the Kryptonite didn't affect _her_ …and she wasn't about to sit by and watch while Supergirl was tortured to death by terrorists.

"Thanks," Kara panted, rolling weakly onto her stomach and pushing herself up on shaky hands.

"Yeah, well, you did come to save me, didn't you? It's just good manners to return the favor." They smiled at each other. Then a huge, glowing red blast knocked them off their feet, a shockwave of energy from an intergalactic bomb slamming everyone in the bar flat on their backs. Even Supergirl.

Then something very strange happened. Just as Kara jumped up again—still shaking and sweaty from Kryptonite exposure, panting and breathless, fists raised in determination—the white hooded figures all just stopped. They dropped their weapons, all at the exact same time, and stood motionless.

"Um, okay…I guess we won?" Kara said uncertainly, as all the other alien bar patrons began peeking out from behind the shelter of overturned tables. The Klansmen remained silent, motionless.

"This is weird," Lyra stated the obvious, watching as the men calmly formed a single-file line and marched out the smashed door into the street. Kara followed curiously after, with many of the aliens she'd just saved trailing after her in equal confusion. In the street, they saw that it wasn't just their white-hooded attackers who had suddenly gone all 'Dawn of the Dead.' It was everyone—every human, at least. It seemed that the entire population was pouring out of their homes and workplaces, their faces all flat and expressionless as they marched silently into the street, all in perfect formation, as if this had all been orchestrated and rehearsed. Which was impossible.

"Myriad," Kara whispered, more frightened now than she had been when the KKK had her trapped in a Kryptonite net. "It's happening…"

"What?" Lyra asked anxiously. Kara turned to look at her, seeing all the other alien bar patrons looking to her for some kind of explanation, too. They weren't affected by the brainwashing signal Non's army was sending out through Lord Tech's satellites. Kara wondered how small a sliver of the city's population was represented by this small group of aliens, how many others were left to watch in helpless confusion as the masses poured silently into the streets without explanation. "Kara? What's happening to everyone?"

"I—it—I don't have time to explain," Kara shook her head regretfully. "I'm sorry…I have to go now. Everyone," she looked to her fellow aliens, "go home and stay there, stay out of sight. Kryptonian terrorists are mind-controlling the human population. I don't know what their intentions are for other alien refugees, but it doesn't matter, because I'm going to stop them. Just go. Stay safe."

Most of the alien refugees didn't need to be told twice, scattering like they were running from a burning building. Lyra stayed behind though, looking at Kara with desperation in her eyes. "I have to go find Winn," she said. Kara nodded in understanding.

"Go to CatCo, keep an eye on him, on everyone. See if you can find out what they're doing as mind-controlled zombies with access to the most powerful media hub in National City. Call me if you find anything."

"Wait, where are _you_ going?" Lyra asked in alarm, assuming Kara would come with her. It was her workplace after all, her boss, her best friends.

"I have to go see what's happening at the DEO. If the humans are all zombies, and the alien prisoners _aren't_ …" Kara couldn't bring herself to finish her thought. "I have to secure the DEO," she said simply. Lyra nodded, looking scared but determined. "I'll come catch up with you at CatCo as soon as I can." Lyra nodded, and Kara squeezed her hand. Then she shot into the sky like a bullet.

Adrenalin racing and her heart in her throat, it took Kara less than a minute to zoom to the DEO's secret underground facility, where she found Alex leading the DEO troops in sharp formation, preparing to power down the entire cell grid and release all the Fort Rozz prisoners. On the viewscreen was Non, smug as he gave the human soldiers his orders.

"Power down the main cell grid, Agent Grey," the Kryptonian terrorist said with relish in his voice. He was enjoying this.

"Yes, Sir," Alex said tonelessly, her dark hazel eyes strangely flat and blank as she looked down at the console in front of her and began pressing buttons.

"Lexie, no!" Kara yelled, racing to stop her. But halfway across the room, the blonde girl abruptly changed course when Alex—along with all the other DEO agents—started shooting their kryptonite dart guns at her. One dart sank into her upper arm as she dove for cover, and she gritted her teeth with a yell of pain.

"Alex, snap out of it! You have to fight it, you have to wake up!" Kara cried, panting on the floor with her back up against one of the consoles. But the only response she got was more shooting. The loud, flat voice of the DEO's mainframe computer announced ten seconds to cell grid shutdown, and began the countdown; and Kara knew she was out of time. The kryptonite leeching into her bloodstream from the dart embedded in her arm was slowing her down, she couldn't shoot from one side of the room to the other like a blur, as she normally could; but she still ran damn fast, diving for cover behind her pod, which was still displayed proudly in the DEO. Panting, she pushed it around so the exhaust pipe was facing toward Alex, and all the other soldiers who were still shooting mindlessly at her.

 _You have to do this. You have to do this_ , she told herself in determination, snaking one arm through the open console to power up the pod; but only for a second. A single blast of energy from her light-speed pod was enough to knock all the DEO agents out, slamming them flat on their backs, unconscious. The countdown was at three now. Kara stumbled to the main computer console and smashed it. The countdown stopped abruptly at two.

"Early parole just got cancelled," the blonde alien girl snarled, her relief mixing together with the pain in her arm, and the fear that she might have hurt Alex with the sonic blast. Gritting her teeth hard, Kara reached for the end of the kryptonite dart still sticking out of her arm. "Aaahhh… _oww_ …" She whimpered, refusing to cry as she trembled with the pain of pulling the glowing green thing out of her bleeding arm. As soon as it was out, the radiation it was emitting made her head pound and her stomach twist, and she threw it as far from herself as possible. She didn't have time to be weak now.

"Alex," she murmured, kneeling down beside her unconscious wife to check for injuries. Thankfully she seemed unhurt; she was just knocked out. "I'm so, so sorry…" She reached down and stroked the dark-haired girl's cheek with gentle fingers; then she leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back, okay baby?"

Shakily, Kara stood up, and marched purposefully to the one cell she did not intend to keep locked. At the end of the long hallway, she opened the door to her Aunt Astra's kryptonite prison. The older woman stood up as soon as she saw Kara's face, her expression plainly showing that she understood what was happening. Neither of them said anything; they just looked at each other in silence for several long moments.

"I tried to warn you that Myriad could not be stopped, little one," Astra said sadly.

"Yeah. But we're still going to try," Kara said stonily, unlocking the cell door and holding it open for her aunt, looking at her expectantly.

"You are…releasing me?"

"Yes," Kara said simply, still staring at her aunt with determination blazing in her blue eyes. Finally, after another long silence, Astra spoke, still making no move to leave the confines of her cell.

"You are not as much like your mother as I once thought," the older Zor-El shook her head. "You, Kara…you truly believe in second chances. Don't you?"

"Yes," Kara said again simply, reaching out a hand. Astra took it, and allowed her niece to lead her out of the cell.

"What would you have me do?" Astra asked, her voice wary but determined.

"Stay here. Keep the DEO secured against Non. Who better than you to anticipate his attack strategy? Just make sure the prisoners stay prisoners. And…try not to let any of our people get killed." _Our people_. In the thirty seconds Astra had been free from her cell, Kara was already counting her as part of their side, part of the _us_. Astra just nodded stoically.

"What are _you_ going to do?" Astra asked, following her niece back to the main control room. She wasn't surprised to see the blonde girl kneel down and scoop her brave one into her arms protectively, still unconscious from the blast.

"I'll be back in ten minutes. I have to get Alex out of here, somewhere safe. I can't let her be a zombie."

"Of course," Astra nodded. "I will guard the others until you return."

"Thank you, Aunt Astra." Kara smiled in grim determination. Then she shot into the air with Alex in her arms.

…...

Susan Grey was washing dishes when a loud thump rattled the ceiling above her, making her jump. Were there intruders in the house? Entering through the second-floor windows, in broad daylight? It made no sense…but _someone_ was in the house with her, that she knew. Before she had time to decide whether to call the police, or just run, a blur of motion streaked down the main stairway, and Kara was there, in her Supergirl suit, laying an unconscious Alex down on the couch.

"Oh, God!" Mrs. Grey gasped, rushing to her daughter's side. Even though Alex's mom knew the whole truth now, knew that her daughter didn't just have a desk job analyzing forensic evidence for the FBI, she had never actually seen the frightening, action-packed side of the DEO's work up close.

"She's okay, she's not hurt. She's just knocked out," Kara assured her mother-in-law gently, stroking Alex's dark hair one more time before she stood up again in determination.

"But—but what happened?" Mrs. Grey asked in bewilderment.

"I don't have time to explain. I have to get back to National City," Kara shook her head, squeezing the older woman's arm reassuringly. "Alex has to stay here. She won't want to. But she has to. It's not safe for her to be in the city right now. Stay here until you hear from me, all right?"

"All right," Mrs. Grey nodded in bewilderment. She'd never seen this side of Kara before, either—giving orders, preparing for battle, the seriousness of the situation plain in her steely blue eyes. "What—what am I supposed to tell Alex when she wakes up?"

"Tell her I love her…and tell her I won't let anything happen to National City," Kara said simply, grim determination flashing in her eyes.

"Kara…be careful," Mrs. Grey said quietly. She didn't ask her not to go; she didn't ask for an explanation. But she had loved the blonde alien girl as a second daughter for years, long before Kara was officially her daughter-in-law. She couldn't let her fly off into danger without a single word of concern for her safety.

"I will," Kara smiled sadly. Then she was gone in a blur and a rush of wind, so fast that Mrs. Grey couldn't even see which way the blonde girl had gone. The older woman rushed to the phone to call her in-laws; whatever was happening in National City, they would want to know about it.

…

Mere minutes later, Kara was flying through the 40th floor window of the CatCo building, where all her friends and co-workers were sitting unnaturally still at their desks, typing in silence. The only sound other than the clicking of keys was Lyra's voice, crying and yelling at Winn to wake up; but the young IT tech just stared blankly at his screen, still typing, acting as if he couldn't even hear his girlfriend yelling in his ear.

"Kara, do something!" Lyra begged, slightly hysterical as she looked up from her zombie-boyfriend helplessly.

"Winn? Kelly?" Kara went around the cubicles in the main office space, shaking her friends gently by their shoulders (gently for Supergirl, anyway). But no one so much as looked up from their screens. "That's Kryptonese writing…" Kara murmured, looking at the long lines of computer coding running up the screens.

"What does it say?" Lyra demanded.

"I'm not sure…it's computer coding, I'm not an IT tech," Kara shook her head in bewilderment. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do…" In the silent desperation that followed the young superhero's statement, Ms. Grant's private elevator dinged as its sleek metallic doors opened, and the CEO of CatCo worldwide media strutted into the office, giving orders without looking up from her phone, appearing totally unaffected by Myriad's mind-control signal.

"For the last time, tell Bernie Sanders that I am not interested in hot yoga," the media mogul sighed impatiently over her phone. "If he wants to talk about congressional reform, then"—the sight of Kara dressed in her Supergirl uniform made Cat look up from her phone in surprise. To whoever was on the other end of the phone, she said calmly, "I'll have to call you back." She slid her phone into her pocket. "Supergirl! Did we…have an appointment that I forgot?" The older blonde woman raised one eyebrow in confusion, obviously trying to keep Kara's cover in front of the rest of the office, though in their current state there was no need. Kara just stared at Ms. Grant in amazement.

"You're not a mindless drone," she gasped.

"No. No, I learned that lessons when Demi Moore and I wore the same dress to the premiere of Ghost," Ms. Grant shook her head calmly. Kara had to suppress a small smile. Even in the face of an apocalypse, her boss's dry humor could always be relied on. "And who is this?" She nodded to Lyra.

"Lyra Strayd," the Valerian girl stuck out her hand. "I'm Winn's girlfriend."

"And you're in my workplace because…?"

"Ms. Grant, listen to me. This alien signal is affecting everyone in the city, they're acting like automatons. Haven't you noticed?" Kara asked in bewilderment. How could Ms. Grant have eluded Non's mind control? How could she not notice that she was surrounded by mindless zombies?

Looking around her executive floor at all her silent, motionless employees, Ms. Grant raised an eyebrow. "Mmm. Well, yes, they _are_ a bit more quiet than usual. Perhaps my reign of terror has finally reached its peak effectiveness."

"You think this is funny?" Kara yelled at her boss, too scared to be polite as her mentor looked back at her in frank astonishment; Kara never spoke to her like this. "Look at them! They're mindless zombies! Hello!" She put her face right up to one of her co-worker's ears and yelled; the man didn't even flinch, but continued typing without interruption. "It's Dawn of the Dead out there!" She yelled, throwing her arm out to indicate the city outside the wide windows of the CatCo office.

"Kara, I…" Ms. Grant shook her head in bewilderment, startled out of the pretense that Supergirl and Kara Grey-Danvers were two different people. None of them knew what to say, what to do. Then a little ding alerted Kara to an incoming text message on her personal cell phone, hidden in her boot; she pulled it out and gasped in relief as she looked at the message from Clark. It just said, _I'm coming_.

"My cousin's coming," she smiled weakly, momentarily embarrassed that she hadn't even though to call him in the midst of all this. Of all the times to refuse his help, this was _not_ one of them.

"Superman? Coming here?" Ms. Grant brightened. "This may not be the best time, but I've been meaning to ask—do you think he'd be interested in doing an interview for our _Aliens are People_ series?" But Kara wasn't listening; she ran to the window, searching the skies, and smiled when she saw the red and blue blur of her older cousin streaking towards them from the east. But the smile slid abruptly from her face as he stopped dead in midair, and shot straight down from the sky to join the humans marching in mindless formation.

"What?!" Kara cried in shock, putting a hand to the window. "This can't be happening…Myriad doesn't affect aliens…"

"If Superman is affected by this…mind control ray thing…" Ms. Grant waved her hand impatiently in front of her, still looking less scared, and more annoyed at the interruption of her schedule than anything else. "Are any of us safe?"

"I'd put money on that bet." Maxwell Lord came strolling into the CatCo office with his hands in his pockets, smiling smugly. He wore some kind of futuristic-looking Bluetooth device over one ear.

"Maxwell Lord. I should have guessed," Cat Grant sighed dismissively. "What is it they say—only cockroaches will survive the apocalypse?"

"It's nice to see you too, Cat," Max smiled sarcastically.

"What are you doing in my office?" Ms. Grant shot back, arms folded expectantly.

"How are you not affected by the Myriad signal?" Kara asked, before the conversation could be derailed from the most pressing business at hand. The cocky tech mogul tapped his earpiece, with a self-satisfied little smile.

"Ion-blocker. A little something I whipped up when I realized what the Kryptonian terrorist cell was planning…after they attacked my lab. They're using my satellites to send neural signals directly into the minds of everyone in the city. This little baby scrambles the signal before it can reach my brain." Kara stared at him in shock, anger and desperation, all swirling around her while her heart hammered in her chest.

"You…you found a cure? And you didn't share it with the DEO? We could have made enough for everyone, we could have saved the city!" she yelled furiously.

"I believe I've made my position on government assistance perfectly clear… _Supergirl_." Max sneered. Kara's blue eyes flashed dangerously; she almost snarled at him. Cat put herself between them, sensing the volatile turn the conversation had taken.

"All right, all right, everyone just relax," Ms. Grant said authoritatively, staring them all down with her most intimidating boss-lady stare. "Clearly not _everyone_ needs to be an alien or have a magic headset to resist this thing, because I don't have one and I'm perfectly fine."

"I see you're wearing the earrings I sent you, Cat," Max Lord smiled smugly. Even though she knew it wouldn't help the situation, Kara really, really wanted to punch him in the face. Just once.

 _"You're_ my secret admirer?" Cat sighed. "I'd been rather hoping it was Harrison Ford." Max just shrugged in false modesty, his smug smile growing even bigger. How he could manage to be smug in a time like this, Kara would never understand. "Let me guess." Ms. Grant touched one of the earrings. "Ion-blockers in the diamonds? Classy as always, Max."

"It just didn't seem right…for the world to lose Cat Grant's mind," the smug millionaire shrugged, crossing the room to Ms. Grant's side, and boldly sweeping the hair back behind one of her ears to show off her high-tech jewelry. Ms. Grant stared back at him in undisguised loathing.

"Well it's comforting to know that some things can always be counted on— even in the face of the apocalypse, you're still a creepy perv to the very end," she sneered at him.

"Whose end? Theirs or ours?" Max countered smoothly, looking totally unabashed.

"You have a plan, I suppose?" Ms. Grant demanded. Kara and Lyra waited anxiously. He may be a creepy perv, but if he could help them save the city, they couldn't afford to turn him away.

"Of course." Max Lord smiled grimly, his hands in his pockets again, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. "We're just going to have to kill them all." Before they even had a chance to react to this horrifying plan, every screen in the CatCo office was suddenly filled with a face even more smug than Max Lord's—Non.

"Kara Zor-El," the Kryptonian terrorist jeered, preening like a prize rooster on the many screens all around them. "I come to you now in mercy; I offer you one last chance. Release my wife, and then join us. Join your own people. We will be the kings and queens of this planet, and the glory of Krypton will be restored."

"Queen of the zombies? No thanks," Kara snarled, her hands clenching uselessly into fists at her sides. "And my aunt is _not_ a prisoner. Not anymore. She doesn't want this, Non. If you truly love your wife—and honor your general—you'll stop this all, right now."

"Lying child!" Non roared.

"You don't believe me? Ask her yourself. She's at the DEO. Not as a prisoner. As an ally. She's keeping it safe from _you_ ," Kara spat, holding herself back from punching straight through the TV screen.

"I have a better idea," Non grinned smugly again, one eyebrow raised egotistically. "Never forget that I gave you this chance, Kara Zor-El. On your head be it." Then his image was gone.

"What does he mean?" Lyra asked uneasily; she was still standing protectively by Winn's side as he sat mindlessly typing at his desk. But before Kara could say a word, Winn stood abruptly from his desk.

"Your heroics have done nothing to save this planet," he said tonelessly, staring at Kara with dead eyes.

"Winn? Can you hear me? You have to fight back!" Lyra yelled, shaking him roughly by the shoulders. But she may as well have been yelling at a brick wall.

"This is the inevitability of Myriad," James said, marching zombie-like from his office into the main lobby, with the same dead eyes as the rest of the CatCo employees.

"What's happening?" Ms. Grant asked warily, looking around at her employees as another stood up; Kelly, the receptionist.

"Always remember that this could have been avoided, Kara Zor-El," the red-haired young woman said tonelessly, in a voice that was not her own.

"Non, stop it! Leave them alone!" Kara yelled, her face going red.

"You have taught the humans much," Winn said, his voice as flat and emotionless as the others. "But have you taught them to fly?"

"What?" Kara asked in horror, watching as her three friends began walking purposefully towards three different balconies leading off the main CatCo lobby. "Winn, stop! James! Kelly! Please, you have to _fight!"_

"No," Winn shook his head as he climbed up onto the 40th-floor railing. _"You_ have to catch." Kara watched in horror as all three of them held their arms out, and jumped. She heard Lyra's screams in her ears as she shot out the window after them; she caught Winn first, then with an impossible burst of speed, she swooped under James and caught him too, just in time. But she couldn't catch all three of them. She just couldn't. Touching down on the ground with Winn and James, Kara rushed to the crumpled body of the sweet-tempered receptionist.

"Kelly…I'm sorry…" Kara whispered, tears stinging her eyes. She'd never had to look at the dead body of someone she'd failed to save. Never.

"You missed one," James said, his voice dead as Non used him as a human microphone. Kara stared desperately into the vacant eyes of her friend. "Do not stand against me, Kara Zor-El."

"Or more will die," Winn finished, as if their minds were one. Non was playing puppetmaster with the entire city.

"Everyone you know, love, and care for, will die," James continued, still as a statue.

"Accept defeat," Winn said, crossing the space between them with robotic steps, and taking her face in his hands, forcing her to make eye contact. "I have already saved National City…next, I will save the world." Without waiting for any response, Winn and James turned in unison back toward the CatCo building, leaving Kara alone with tears stinging her eyes.

…

Meanwhile in Midvale, Alex's eyes opened blearily to take in her parents' couch. "What the hell…" she mumbled, rubbing her forehead, which still ached slightly from the blast that had knocked her out.

"Alex, honey, you're all right," her mother gushed, suddenly at her side, sitting by her head and stroking her hair consolingly. "Just take it slow. Does anything hurt, sweetheart?"

"Mom…how did I…Kara!" Alex gasped and sat bolt upright, her head rushing with dizziness. "Ohh, fuck…" She rubbed her forehead again.

"So much for taking it slow," Susan Grey sighed, unsurprised at her daughter's trademark stubbornness. "Kara's all right, honey. She had to go back to National City. But she said that you should stay here."

"Yeah, I'll just bet she did," Alex fumed, pulling out her phone and hitting the speed-dial to Kara's Supergirl phone, the tiny one embedded in her earring that was always with her. "Kara! What the hell?"

"Lexie…are you okay?" Kara sounded worried.

"I'm just fine, thanks. Four hundred miles away, but totally fine."

"I had to get you out of there, Alex. You'd have done the same thing if you were me, don't say you wouldn't. You were a zombie, Lex. I _couldn't_ let you be a zombie."

"And I can't let _you_ fight Non's army by yourself!" Alex exclaimed, standing up in agitation and pacing her parents' living room. She was still a little dizzy, but it was fading. Adrenalin was surging through her body, making her awake and alert more quickly.

"I'm not by myself. I've got Ms. Grant, and…Maxwell Lord."

"Sorry, maybe I did hit my head too hard. Did you just say you've got _Maxwell Lord?_ Helping you?" Alex demanded. "The same guy who sent spy drones after us and blackmailed us with a damn sex tape?"

"I know, I know…he's not my first-round draft pick apocalypse buddy, either. But he's here."

"How is he not a zombie? And Ms. Grant?"

"Alex, I don't have time to explain," Kara sighed regretfully.

"Kara Grey-Danvers, don't you dare hang up on me," Alex warned, her adrenalin turning to white-hot anger. It was easier to be angry than scared. "You get your caped ass back to Midvale and come get me! Right now!"

"You know I can't do that, baby. I'm sorry. You can't help me right now. You just have to stay safe."

"That is _not_ what I do!" Alex yelled furiously. She didn't have time to get back to National City on her own; she needed a speed-of-light alien escort.

"It is this time." Kara's voice was resolute; Alex knew it. But she couldn't just give in. She had to _do something_.

"Kara, no"—Alex began to argue again, but Kara cut her off.

"I love you, Lexie. I won't let Non hurt you." And before Alex could get out another word, the line went dead. Kara actually hung up on her. Kara had never hung up on her, not once in their lives.

"Fuck…" Alex whispered, staring blankly out her parents' kitchen window at the trees in the backyard. A bluebird landed on one of the low branches. Alex's heart thumped painfully against her ribs.

"Sweetheart, please come sit down," Mrs. Grey begged, gesturing to the empty spot beside her on the couch. "Kara is right, you have to stay here. It's all over the news. You can't get back into National City now, it's under military quarantine. Kara told me you won't be safe there."

"She's not safe there either!" Alex yelled, still pacing in agitation. She heard her mom's voice speaking to her, but she wasn't listening anymore; she dialed another number on her phone, waiting impatiently for J'onn to pick up.

"Alex. Are you all right?" The Martian DEO Director asked in his deep, reassuring voice. "Where are you?"

"I'm at my parents' house. Kara flew me all the way to Midvale and left me here," Alex fumed. "You've gotta come get me, J'onn!"

"What, do you have a death wish?" J'onn snorted. "Thank your lucky stars you're not in National City. If you were, you'd be mind-controlled right now. Myriad is happening."

"I know! That's why you have to come get me! Kara needs our help!"

 _"I'll_ help her," J'onn said. "I'm flying back from Chicago right now. I'll be there inside fifteen minutes. Just stay put, and I'll update you as soon as I can."

"No," Alex snarled.

"Agent Grey"—J'onn began, but Alex cut him off.

"Do not pull rank on me, J'onn. Not now. My wife is out there all alone against an army of terrorists, who are all as strong as she is. She needs me. I _can't_ leave her."

"You can't help her, either!" J'onn yelled in frustration. "The moment you're inside the city limits, you'll turn into a mind-controlled zombie! Is that what you want?"

"No, I _won't_ be a zombie. Not if you help me," Alex shook her head in determination. "You can use your telepathy. Shield my mind. We can both help her. _Please."_ Alex wasn't too proud to beg; not with Kara's life, and the fate of the whole city—maybe even the whole planet—hanging in the balance. The silence on the other end of the phone went on so long, Alex pulled it away from her ear to look at the screen, making sure he hadn't just hung up on her, too.

"…All right," J'onn agreed finally.

"Really?" Alex gasped, hardly daring to let herself feel relief. Then a loud thump on the back porch made Alex and her mother both turn toward the door with a jolt. Alex rushed to open it.

"…Really," J'onn said with a small smile, standing on the porch. Alex hugged him tightly. Mrs. Grey ran out after them.

"Alex, wait. I don't understand. How can you be protected from _mind-control?"_ The older woman twisted her hands anxiously. Her only daughter was about to run towards danger. She wasn't about to just smile and wave. Alex hadn't gotten her stubbornness from her dad's side of the family.

"Mom, I…" Alex was about to say that she didn't have time to explain; but then she remembered how furious _she'd_ felt when Kara said that to her. "Okay, I am gonna tell you this _only_ because we're in the middle of an apocalypse. But you have to promise that after the world doesn't end, you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, 'kay?"

"All right," Mrs. Grey nodded warily. Alex looked an J'onn, and he nodded.

"Okay. Mom, this is my boss, J'onn J'onzz. He's a shapeshifter from Mars. And he's telepathic. He can shield my mind, protect me. So I can protect Kara." J'onn smiled grimly. Alex did have a way of cutting to the chase. "And now we have to go."

"Alex!" Mrs. Grey was panicking now, the same way Alex had panicked when Kara hung up on her. The older woman threw her arms tight around her daughter. "Promise you'll come back."

"I promise…that I will try very, very hard," Alex said earnestly. Her mother hugged her a little tighter…and then finally released her. The dark-haired girl smiled grimly.

"I'll protect her. Both of them," J'onn promised, seeing in Mrs. Grey's mind that she was just as worried about Kara. The older woman nodded. Then she watched in awe as her daughter wrapped one arm around her boss, and they both shot into the sky like a bullet.

…

At the same time, in National City, Kara was hastily wiping the tears from her face as she hung up on Alex for the first time in her life, and turned back to face Maxwell Lord and Ms. Grant. "Domestic troubles?" Max asked sarcastically. Kara's blue eyes flashed dangerously, and she took a furious step toward him. Ms. Grant hastily put herself between them, an equally brave and foolish decision; but she had faith that Kara wouldn't hurt her.

"Enough," the older woman snapped, putting a pacifying hand on her young protégé's shoulder. "You're not helping, Max."

"None of this is helping," Max pointed out, still sounding totally calm, almost indifferent, as if this were all just a game to him. Maybe it was. "Are you ready to do what needs to be done, Supergirl? Are you ready to save the world?" Kara stared at him hard. No one said anything for a few long moments.

"Tell me your plan," Kara said finally. Max calmly explained that after the attack on his lab, he'd constructed a weapon to use against Kryptonians—a kryptonite bomb. It would kill them all, choke them out. Kara could grab her cousin from the mindless masses, and detonate the bomb above the city; the two of them would be just fine as long as they didn't come back to National City for fifty or sixty years. Cat made a hostile, incredulous sound.

"What about human casualties?" Kara asked warily.

"There will be some collateral damage," the tech mogul admitted, still sounding fairly indifferent. "The concussive force needed to detonate the kryptonite across the entire city will kill roughly eight percent of the population." Ms. Grant made another involuntary sound of incredulity.

 _"Eight percent of the population?"_ She exclaimed in horror. "Eight percent of four million people? That's over three hundred thousand people, Max." She didn't even pause to do the math; she did it instantly in her head as she spoke. She hadn't become the most powerful person in National City just because she was pretty and blonde.

"Versus the seven _billion_ people on this planet that Non wants to make into his zombie army," Max said coolly, still sounding completely unruffled, somehow.

"You really are a sociopath, aren't you?" Cat Grant shook her head incredulously. Then she looked back to Kara. "You're not seriously considering this, are you?" Kara said nothing, pacing across the lobby in agitation.

"She is," Max said calmly. "Because she knows it's the only choice. If this threat gets out of National City, then every man, woman and child on this planet—including yours"—he looked meaningfully at Cat—"will be on their knees." Cat looked back to Kara, and they shared a long, loaded silence. Because neither of them could think of another alternative.

"Go get your bomb," Kara said stonily.

…

While Kara was busy arguing with Max Lord and Ms. Grant over the fate of National City, Alex was busy fighting for her life. The moment she and J'onn had set down in National City, Non seemed to know. He came for them himself; he didn't send his flunkies. Alex had had her share of dogfights, but this felt different. The stakes had never been this high; the fate of the entire world had never hung in the balance. Even two-to-one—even when one of the two was a Martian—J'onn and Alex were just no match for Non's Kryptonian strength, not in bare hand-to-hand combat. They didn't have any weapons; they didn't plan this. It was all just happening. Non punched J'onn so hard, the Martian flew across the abandoned lot and was impaled on a metal pole sticking out of a broken old industrial fence, the point going right through his back and coming out through his stomach. Alex screamed. Her moment's distraction was all Non needed; he zoomed instantly to her side, one hand wrapping around her delicate human throat.

"Surrender. Or I kill her right now," Non said with obvious relish, looking into J'onn's weakened eyes as he pulled himself off the pole, and held his bleeding stomach in one hand.

"No! Don't listen to him, J'onn! Run! Go find Kara, save the city!" Alex yelled and screamed, thrashing in Non's grip like a fish caught up in a net. But J'onn didn't run. Blood streaming over his hand from the wound in his stomach, the DEO Director crumpled to the ground, returning to his true, green-skinned form as his strength left him. "No!" Alex screamed, terrified that the man she thought of as a second father was dead. Non just laughed cruelly, and released her, holding one hand up slowly in front of her face. Alex felt her body go slack; she stopped fighting. She could still feel everything; she knew who she was, where she was. But it was like she was a passenger inside herself, not the pilot. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak. With another wave of Non's hand, everything went black.

The next time Alex opened her eyes, she was in a strange, dark room, Kryptonese writing covering the walls. Non's cruel laughter was right in her ear. She gasped and jerked away from him, in control of herself again, for all the good it did.

"Enjoying your stay of execution?" The Kryptonian terrorist jeered at her. "It won't last long. I've only kept you alive this long so Astra can have the pleasure of killing you herself when she is returned to me."

"Astra _isn't_ returning to you," Alex snarled, fury overtaking fear as it always did in life-threatening situations. It was what made her a great DEO agent. It was how she stayed alive…when Kara wasn't there to rescue her. "She changed her mind, she changed her heart. Ever since you sent the Black Mercy after Kara…she lost her taste for it."

"Liar. You're all liars!" Non roared furiously. _We're ALL liars?_ Alex thought to herself. Did that mean Kara had said this to him, too? Had they fought, was Kara safe? "But it doesn't matter…I have an even better use for you, pretty little pet."

He waved his hand in front of her face again; and once again, Alex felt her consciousness rush inwards, making her a passenger inside her own body. She was aware of everything around her; she could feel her body moving, was aware of putting on the Kryptonite-covered armor at Non's command. But at the same time, she didn't feel like she was the one doing it; she was just watching. Inside her head, she was screaming _no, no, no_ ; but her body didn't listen. It just kept putting on the Kryptonite armor, and pulling the Kryptonite sword from its case, strapping it to her back.

She watched from inside herself as her legs walked her out of the dark room; she realized they were inside Fort Rozz, that was where Non and his army had been hiding all this time. It was brilliant, really; evil, but brilliant. _I am coming back for you, you son of a bitch,_ Alex screamed inside her mind; but her legs kept moving her forward. She felt like a fish stuck inside a tank as she watched the world from inside herself. She knew what Non was going to make her do; and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't force her body to do what she wanted. All she could do was watch. Finally, she found herself at CatCo, stepping out of the elevator onto the 40th floor. She saw Kara, and her heart leapt inside her chest; but her arms still reached for the Kryptonite sword.

"Alex!" Kara exclaimed in confusion when she looked up and saw her wife strutting across the CatCo lobby. "What are you doing here?! I told you to stay safe in Midvale…Alex?" Kara hesitated, stopping halfway across the lobby as she took in the sight before her: Alex, covered in glowing green Kryptonite armor. Her dark eyes were empty and cruel. Kara's heart squeezed painfully inside her chest.

"She can't hear you," Non grinned cruelly, using Alex's voice.

"No," Kara whispered, her blue eyes going wide with horror as she took a step back. "I won't fight her, Non."

"You have no choice," the voice that was no longer Alex's said with sadistic relish. "I warned you, Kara Zor-El. I gave you a chance. Now that chance has passed. Kill your beloved, or let her kill you. Either way…you lose."

"No! I _won't!_ " Kara screamed. "Do you hear me, Non?" But Non, apparently, had nothing left to say. Alex swung the heavy Kryptonite sword; Kara leapt back to avoid it, but refused to fight back. Instead, she fled to the nearest balcony, leading them away from Ms. Grant and the office full of mindless drones that were once her friends. "Alex! I know you can hear me! You have to fight!" Kara screamed, leaping out of the path of the glowing green sword again. The cruel grin on Alex's face just widened.

"She is strong, your human," Alex said in a taunt; but it wasn't really Alex. "But not strong enough." Laughing sadistically, Alex threw a glowing-green Kryptonite punch; refusing to hurt her, Kara just caught her arm and held on tight, gritting her teeth against the agony of holding onto the Kryptonite armor, letting it touch her bare skin.

"Lexie, please, fight him…" Kara panted, as she was slowly pinned to the ground under the radiating waves of the Kryptonite armor pressing against her.

"Your noble intentions will serve no good, young one," Non jeered with Alex's voice. "She will blame herself for your death. Tell me, shall her agony be greater if I force her to live a long life alone with her grief? Or would you rather I simply have her throw herself off the balcony once you are dead?" The cruel laughter that bubbled up from Alex's throat was unlike any laugh Kara had ever heard from her before; because it _wasn't_ Alex. As Kara's strength slipped away from her under the agony of the intense Kryptonite exposure, she finally felt the truth in her heart. If Alex could stop Non, she would have already. The blonde girl knew she was about to die…but she couldn't let Alex blame herself. If it was the last thing she ever did.

"Lexie…I know you can hear me," Kara choked, barely able to get air into her lungs as the Kryptonite leeched away her strength. "This isn't your fault, do you hear me? This isn't your fault Alex. I love you…I'll love you with my last breath…" The blonde girl was wheezing painfully, she couldn't get enough air. Nevertheless, she persisted. "I love you," she whispered, refusing to look away. Alex's dark eyes were glittering with malicious cruelty…and then…they weren't.

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Alex gasped, with a choking sound as she fell backwards on her ass, looking down at herself in a daze as if just waking up from a very deep sleep. She saw the glowing green sword in her hand, and chucked it across the lobby, hastily turning off the glowing tubes of Kryptonite covering her body armor. "Kara, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed, tears welling up in her dark hazel eyes as she turned off the last of the glowing green tubes, and pulled the trembling blonde girl into her arms.

"Lexie…it's really you…" Kara panted weakly, tears of joy and relief spilling down her flushed face.

"Yeah," Alex agreed, beaming in woozy confusion at the love of her life as she wiped the tears from Kara's face. "I'm so sorry, bluebird, I'm so sorry I hurt you…"

"It wasn't you, baby. It was Non," Kara shook her head weakly.

"Yeah," Alex agreed, sighing dazedly. "I couldn't fight him, Kara…I couldn't control anything…"

"Except that you just did," Kara pointed out. They blinked at each other in confusion. "How did you do that?"

"I…I don't know," Alex admitted, rubbing her forehead absently.

"Well we'd better figure it out…because if we don't, we're going to have to nuke the city."

...

… _To Be Continued!_


	25. Myriad Part 2

Hi Supergang!

Here is the penultimate (second-to-last) chapter of this epic fic which I have been writing for a YEAR. Wow. I hope everyone has enjoyed the ride! I'm considering the possibility of a second "season" for this story…but I have to hear from all y'all first. Lately there haven't been many reviews, so I'm not sure how many peeps are still following along. If you want more, all you gotta do is tell me.

Enjoy! :)

…...

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 25—Myriad (Part 2)**

…...

When Kara and Alex came back from the balcony into the CatCo executive floor, hand in hand, Cat Grant knew right away that she hadn't been wrong to have faith in Supergirl—she could see hope and determination again in her young protégé's shining blue eyes. Kara definitely had a plan.

"Shall I call Max and tell him his nukes have been cancelled?" The domineering blonde boss lady asked, an unusual lightness in her tone as a heady feeling of relief swept through her. She had no idea what Kara was planning; but she knew it was better than nuking the city.

"Yes," Kara said simply, looking from Ms. Grant back to Alex, with a small, sideways grin. "'Cause my girl is a genius."

"I couldn't have figured it out if it hadn't been for you," Alex shook her head, smiling shyly back at Kara's adoring gaze.

"What did _I_ do?" Kara asked innocently.

"You loved me," Alex shrugged, squeezing Kara's hand tight. "You loved me, and then I was me again…and now I understand how the Myriad signal works."

"I thought you were a field agent," Ms. Grant said skeptically. "Now you're a neuroscientist too?"

"She's both," Kara smiled proudly. "She has a PhD in Bioengineering. That's how she got recruited to the DEO."

"Also…photographic memory." Alex tapped the side of her head sheepishly. Ms. Grant just raised an eyebrow impassively, allowing Alex to continue. "Okay…" Alex nodded resolutely. "So, Myriad. It works by shutting down the connection between the amygdala, and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex."

"In English, please?" Ms. Grant asked impatiently.

"The parts of the brain that control emotion, individuality. Everything that makes you…you. Under Myriad, I could see, I could hear…but it was like I was a passenger inside my own body, not the one in control. All I could do was watch; I couldn't make my body do what I wanted. Like in a dream, when you're trying to run away but you're frozen? Like that. Then Kara just kept telling me she loved me…" Alex trailed off, lacing her fingers together with Kara's and smiling at her like Ms. Grant wasn't even there. "You were looking at me, and I was looking back at you; and even though I was frozen, I felt so connected to you…and it was like a switch flipped in my brain, and suddenly I was myself again. The signal was just…cut."

"So…I saved you…literally just by loving you?" Kara asked shyly, beaming back at Alex with the same bright love shining in her eyes.

"Yes. You did," Alex agreed quietly, and kissed her, wrapping a lock of Kara's long blonde hair around her finger. Kara leaned in magnetically, the fate of the world momentarily forgotten.

"Well that's all very well and good, and congrats on still being the most sickeningly adorable couple in the galaxy," Ms. Grant sighed dismissively. "But how does this great insight help us defeat Myriad? Kara can't just fly across the whole city proclaiming the power of love throughout the populace."

"She won't have to," Alex shook her head. "Ms. Grant, you're the CEO of the largest media conglomerate in National City…tell me you still have some analog equipment _somewhere_ around here. Packed away in storage, maybe?"

"Not here…but my first news network acquisition—it's a tiny little station, practically worthless. I don't know why I even kept it. Please don't say something corny about sentimentality, Kara." The older blonde flashed a warning look at her young protégé.

"I didn't say anything!" Kara spluttered indignantly.

"Honey, no bickering during an apocalypse, okay?" Alex smiled and squeezed Kara's hand, only half-joking. Then, to Ms. Grant—"Can you take us there, right now? And call Max. Tell him to put his toy away and come work with us…we're going to need his help if we're gonna power up a 20-year-old broadcast network by ourselves."

…

As much grief as Maxwell Lord had given them in the past, it was nice to know that when the chips were down, he wasn't going to be a passive spectator to the end of the world just to spite them. With his help, it took them only a couple of hours to set up the old analog TV studio at KNCB—the dust-covered, abandoned remains of CatCo's first television acquisition.

"I still don't think this will work," the snide, sarcastic billionaire said casually as he manned the enormous camera pointed at Kara, who was sitting nervously behind the news desk. "You and Alex, you're—special. You know that. Just because you could reach her, doesn't mean it will work on everyone."

"Did he just give us a _compliment?_ " Alex asked, overplaying a shocked reaction.

"I think he actually did," Kara giggled, then pressed her hand over her mouth, like she'd just realized how inappropriate it was to giggle during an apocalypse.

"All right, I get it, enough." Max rolled his eyes. "I still say this is stupid. We're just delaying the inevitable—the bomb is still Plan B."

"If you're so sure this isn't going to work, then why are you helping us?" Kara asked, cocking her head defiantly. Maxwell Lord smiled a little sadly, looking down at his shoes.

"Well…if it does work…it'll be a hell of a lot less cleanup than the bomb."

A few minutes later, the cameras were rolling, and Kara's face was broadcast on every TV screen, phone and computer in National City. Alex watched in a trance of awe and admiration as the girl she'd loved since she was thirteen years old spoke earnestly to the cameras, to the whole city, instilling every citizen with love, and hope, and faith. In Supergirl, and in each other. Within minutes, all their phones started ringing off the hook, as everyone they loved tried to call at once, James and Lucy and Winn and J'onn, who had made it back to the DEO in one piece, badly wounded but alive. It was over—they did it.

"Did we just save the world?" Kara asked a little breathlessly, a huge, beaming Supergirl smile lighting up her face.

"We did," Ms. Grant nodded, somehow managing to maintain her usual cool veneer despite the heady relief sweeping through all of them, that they were no longer surrounded by a city full of mindless zombie drones. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home to hug my son. And cook him a chicken." Kara chuckled a little. Why was it so hard for her boss to express happiness un-ironically?

"And I'm going to check on my LTE network. Or, whatever's left of it," Max said simply, sweeping past them without any fuss. He wasn't exactly sentimental, either. As Ms. Grant grabbed her purse and headed for her private elevator, she paused to squeeze Kara's arm, holding back her decidedly unprofessional smile as much as she could.

"Well done, Supergirl. I knew you'd find a better way."

"Thanks…but I couldn't have done it without Alex."

"I couldn't have done it without _you_ ," Alex countered, shaking her head with a goofy grin. They found each other's hands and laced their fingers together again, and Kara tugged gently to pull Alex in closer, pressing their foreheads together for a moment.

"And the _most sickeningly adorable couple in the galaxy_ title remains intact," Ms. Grant sighed; but she couldn't suppress the smile anymore. "Enjoy your free-will, my dears. Kara, take the rest of the day off. I'm sure you have some Supergirl-ing to attend to."

"Yeah," Kara nodded absently, obviously not really listening as her attention was still entirely focused on Alex. Ms. Grant chuckled a little, and actually gave them both a pat on the head as she departed for the elevator.

"Guess we better head to the DEO and help J'onn get things back in order. He's hurt, he can't do it all himself," Alex sighed, her fingers playing absently with a long lock of Kara's blonde hair.

"Mm. At least he has my Aunt Astra," Kara added, so casually it sounded like an afterthought. But Alex's eyes went wide with alertness, as if someone had just thrown a glass of cold water in her face.

 _"What?"_ The dark-haired girl demanded incredulously.

"Oh…yeah…I didn't get a chance to tell you that part," Kara grinned sheepishly. "I left Astra in charge of the DEO. She was the only one who wasn't a zombie. It was time, Lex. Time to give her a chance to change, for real." Alex just shook her head incredulously, at a loss for words. "Are you mad?" Kara bit her lip.

"Of course not," Alex assured her anxious little alien with a grin.

"Really?" Kara asked warily.

"Really," Alex nodded, sealing the promise with a kiss. Kara sighed happily. "I mean…she helped us save the world, right?"

"Yeah. She did," Kara agreed, another giddy burst of euphoria washing over her as she let herself soak in the realization: her aunt was one of the good guys again. As the blonde girl had always known in her heart; but now it was real.

"So, after all this craziness is cleaned up…we should probably have her over for dinner," Alex smirked. Unexpectedly, Kara burst into tears. Alex didn't ask for an explanation; she just pulled her sweet blonde alien into a tight hug, holding her protectively and rubbing her back until the tears passed. Kara took a deep breath, not moving to pull away from Alex's arms just yet.

"So that's a yes?" The dark-haired girl asked tentatively.

"Yes, that's a yes," Kara sniffled, smiling again as she finally pulled back from Alex a little and wiped her eyes. Alex leaned in and pulled Kara's hand away, lightly kissing away the tear tracks from her face. "I really…really love you," the blonde girl sighed a little dreamily.

"I really really love you too," Alex hummed, smiling goofily at the effect her gentle attention was having.

"It would probably be wrong for us to go home right now for sexy time, huh?" Kara asked lightly, only half joking.

"Probably," Alex agreed, stroking a messy lock of blonde hair back behind Kara's ear. "DEO. Duty calls. And, you know, we should probably make sure J'onn and Astra aren't killing each other."

"Literally," Kara agreed with a sigh. "Okay, let's fly…but as soon as we're done adulting, there is going to be _lots_ of dirty sex."

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm."

"So let's get the fuck out of here, then," Alex giggled. They shot into the sky, laughing deliriously like teenagers breaking curfew for the first time.

…

When they got back to the DEO, they found Astra calmly helping J'onn get the half-destroyed control room back in order, still free and un-cuffed, they noted, with no weapons pointing at her, no soldiers guarding her. J'onn had chosen to trust in Kara; if she truly believed her aunt was trustworthy now, he would follow suit. And it was pretty hard to argue against the older Kryptonian when she had just betrayed her own cause, _and_ her husband, to stand with them. If _that_ didn't show her true colors, what would?

"…Hey," Kara said tentatively, holding Alex's hand nervously as they stepped into the command center. "Is, umm, everybody okay?"

"Still standing," J'onn beamed at them, his expression as proud as any father. "You done good, kiddos."

"Thanks," Kara's slightly uneasy expression dissolved into a goofy grin. "Aunt Astra…thank you."

"It is I who should give you thanks, my sweet Kara. And you, Alexah. You have given me my honor back…you have given me my family back. I will teach your children to know everything of their noble Kryptonian heritage. Our planet may be gone, but our people…our people are not gone." Astra nodded sagely.

"Did we just get another mom?" Alex whispered, blushing bright pink, just like she always did when her mom and Kara's foster mom started rhapsodizing about their future grandchildren.

"Shh," Kara reprimanded under her breath, failing to suppress the goofy grin that spread across her face at the picture her aunt had just painted in her mind. "…And yes. We did."

Kara and Alex spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the wreck of Alex's lab and salvaging her work; but after a while, their adrenalin-heightened, we-just-saved-the-world buzz got the better of them, and they started playfully making out against one of the long metallic lab tables. Kara had her hands up the back of Alex's shirt when a gruff, throat-clearing sound made them break apart and look over at the doorway, suddenly aware that they had an audience.

"Jesus, Max," Alex groaned resentfully. "Pervy much? Don't you have anywhere better to be? Like, maybe at LordTech, helping your employees get through what just happened?"

"That's what corporate shrinks are on retainer for," the tech mogul shrugged unapologetically, his expression so detached it seemed almost sociopathic. "I'm more interested in what's _still_ happening." Kara looked confused, and Alex just glared. "Look, your Martian boss believes me. He let me come and talk to you, didn't he?"

"Fine. Talk. Now," Alex growled, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the man who always seemed to have some ulterior motive up his sleeve, despite having just helped them save the city from zombification.

"I went to see how much damage the Kryptonian terrorists did to my LTE network," Max explained smoothly. "I found that since we ended their mind control, the Myriad wave has been amplified. Tenfold. And it's rising exponentially."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked warily, not wanting to believe it.

"Emergency rooms all over the city have been filled with people complaining of headaches," Max shrugged. "They're from Myriad. Which by my calculations will continue to amplify until…pop goes the cranium."

"Non couldn't control us…so instead he's just going to kill us. _All_ of us." Alex shook her head incredulously.

"How long do I have to stop it?" Kara asked stonily.

"A whopping four hours, eleven minutes," Max said quietly, showing them the algorithm he'd created on his phone. "Normally I love a good countdown, but…this is bad. This is really bad."

"Astra will help us," Alex said with deep conviction. "She never wanted this—even at her lowest point, she still wanted to save the planet, in her own messed up way. She never signed up for mass-murder." Kara just nodded mutely, stunned at this news that the world wasn't as saved as they'd thought. "Go talk to her, Kar, make a game plan. We're only gonna get one chance at this. I'm going to find J'onn and tell him what's happening."

"Okay," Kara agreed unquestioningly. Alex smiled bravely and ran out of the room.

"Finding them will be the easy part, you know," the cocksure billionaire said quietly to Kara after Alex had gone. "Defeating them with only you and your recently-reformed-terrorist aunt…that's the hard part. You have no backup this time, Supergirl. It's the two of you against an army. Your sidekick J'onn J'onnz is injured; he'll only be a liability if you bring him into combat. And no human can go out there, their heads would pop like a champagne cork if they got too close to the source. If you go out there and fight…you might win. But chances are, this is a suicide mission."

"You think I don't know that?" Kara asked, returning his frank stare with one of her own. "It's the end of the world, Max. I can't just do nothing. I have to try."

"I just want you to understand what you're facing, you know. So you'll be prepared." The smug tech genius folded his arms, his gaze as cool as ever.

"I get it. I'm prepared," Kara said simply.

"Good," Max nodded. Kara gave him a little nod of acknowledgement in return, and spun to follow after her wife. But she only got a few feet before she stopped and turned back.

"Do me a favor…don't tell Alex my odds, okay?"

"Okay," Max agreed.

…...

Kara paced the floor of the DEO liked a caged animal while Alex and her team worked tirelessly to make an attack plan for her and Astra to try to gain the upper hand on Non's army. As time wore on, the blonde alien girl saw plainly that they were all in pain, though they were all much too tough to complain. Alex's pain was the brightest to Kara, the most visible, the hardest to ignore; because she never had before. If Alex hurt, Kara made it better. She always had. But right now, she felt helpless and useless as she watched the girl she loved most, bending over a computer console rubbing her forehead with a shaky hand, refusing to admit how much it hurt. But Kara could see it. She was losing her mind over not being able to help.

"We can't wait anymore, Alex. We need to go _now,_ " Kara growled anxiously, her whole body thrumming with the determination that she was _not_ going to witness the death of _another_ world. She would rather die than be left alone on a dead planet.

"I know…I know," Alex sighed, rubbing the side of her head. The pain had grown so intense, she was having trouble thinking straight; but she was too stubborn to give into it. "You're…you're sure you understand how to put Fort Rozz on autopilot once you get in?"

"I understand," Kara nodded, looking to her aunt Astra, who gave her an approving nod back.

"I will engage the troops in battle. Non's attention will be focused on me. If he thinks I might be persuaded to rejoin him, he will be distracted. But still, you will have very little time."

"Go," J'onn urged them, wincing and holding the bandage across his ribs. He could barely take a step without limping. "Keep your comm open, Kara. We'll give you as much help as we possibly can."

"Copy that, Chief." Kara gripped her boss's impossibly strong arm, and they shared a moment of silence, both of them seeing in the other's eyes that they knew their odds, knew they were unlikely to ever lay eyes on each other again. Then she turned and walked away, not looking back. Her aunt rushed to follow her.

"You did not say goodbye to your brave one," Astra noted in confusion.

"If I say goodbye…I'll never leave," Kara admitted quietly. She kept moving forward, willing herself not to turn back for one final glimpse of the girl she loved, the girl she would do anything for. The girl she would die for. Instead, she flew through the corridors of the DEO, bursting through the outer doors and streaking across the sky to Fort Rozz at top speed, so even Astra could barely keep up.

At that speed, it took less than three minutes for Kara and Astra to reach Fort Rozz, landing on the dusty desert floor about a hundred yards away from the enormous alien prison. There were no signs of life anywhere Kara could see; it seemed abandoned.

"How do we ring the bell?" Kara asked warily. Her aunt just looked at her blankly. "Right…how do we let them know we're here?" Kara tried again. But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Non was there, landing in front of them with a smug expression twisting his cruel features, as if he'd already won. Well…hadn't he? In less than five minutes, every human being on the planet would be dead. Kara felt her whole body thrumming with anxiety, anticipation. The stakes had never been this high.

"I think our presence is already known," Astra observed unnecessarily, her eyes cold as she leveled her gaze at her husband.

"Astra, my love, you have defeated the humans and rejoined me in our hour of triumph," Non grinned sadistically. "I suppose you will beg me to take pity on your niece, and bring her with us? Sadly that is not possible. There are only two escape pods left aboard Fort Rozz…and those will be occupied by you and I."

"No," Astra shook her head calmly, never looking away. "They will not be occupied by anyone. I have not come to rejoin you, husband. I have come to stop you." Non gave a short bark of laughter.

"Is now the moment for humor, my love? Come, leave Kara Zor-El to be Queen of the Dead, and let us depart this primitive planet once and for all. Our glorious reign across the cosmos has only just begun…I will give you _galaxies_ to rule. The Universe shall bend before us."

"Stop this, Non," Astra begged. "Myriad has failed. We sought to save this planet by force; but now we will find another way. The destruction of the humans will not bring Krypton back." Non just laughed again, cruel and cold. Kara took the opportunity of his distraction to blast right past him, heading for Fort Rozz. She heard Non yelling behind her, and she heard the sounds of fighting and laser blasts as Astra stepped between her husband and her niece _. Please let her win,_ the blonde girl prayed silently to Rao as she raced inside the giant spaceship prison, looking for the control room. _Please let her live. Let the house of El live._

Finding the control room was the easy part; but once Kara was inside, the override codes Astra had given her to input the autopilot commands weren't working. The entire engine grid appeared to be offline. "Alex, it isn't working. I can't power up the engines," Kara said worriedly, tapping on her little Bluetooth earring. "What do I do?"

"Open the center console, tell me what you see." Alex's voice was warm and steady in Kara's ear, despite the unbearable pain splitting her head like a dozen jagged, rusty knives.

"Okay, center console…" Kara nodded, even though there was no one there to see it. When she pried the panel open, her heart sank. There was the engine of the enormous ship…melted into a shapeless blob of twisted metal. For a moment, Kara was lost for words. Fort Rozz had no engines. Glancing at the countdown watch she'd hastily strapped to her wrist before taking off, she saw that they had only a minute left to do something. She took a deep breath. "I'm going to have to fly Fort Rozz into space myself, Lex. The engines have been completely destroyed."

"Kara, you can't fly a million-ton spaceship by yourself, don't be crazy. Even you have limits."

"I can. I have to," Kara said simply, finding herself outside again as she looked for the best spot to push on the giant ship to get it off the ground. She took one last look at Earth's blue sky. It was so beautiful.

"Kara, no!" Alex growled desperately. "Even if you _could_ carry that much weight, once you break atmo there won't be any oxygen. You won't be able to generate thrust, you won't be able to breathe…you won't be able to get back."

"I know," Kara said quietly.

 _"No!"_ Alex yelled at her furiously.

"We don't have time to argue, Lex. The world is ending. I won't let that happen…I can't just let everyone die. I can't let _you_ die. This is why I was sent here…this is why I was spared. I know that now." Kara's voice became eerily calm as she accepted wholly and completely the reality in front of her.

"Kara please…please don't go," Alex begged, choking over her tears as she fought to hold onto some shred of composure. "Please don't make me live without you…"

"It's me or the whole world," Kara shook her head with a sad little smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted her aunt still fighting with Non, both of them blasting each other through enormous rock faces so the air around them was thick with dust. There was no more time. The blonde girl shot silently into the sky, coming up under the top of Fort Rozz's outer ring, and pushing it into the air with all her strength. In her ear, Alex was crying and screaming at her.

"It's okay Lexie…I'm not scared." Kara's voice was oddly calm as she shot straight up into the sky with the enormous ship, its rings slowly beginning to revolve around her as she picked up speed. "I'll be with my parents in the light of Rao. But you have to promise…promise me you'll go on."

 _"No!"_ Alex yelled at her again, and Kara could hear the tears in her voice. It was the only thing cutting through her calm resolve, like a hot knife through butter. Kara couldn't bear to leave Alex so bereft. But she couldn't bear to watch her die, either.

"Alex, please. I need you to promise me, I can't do this without you," Kara begged. "Promise you'll find someone new, that you won't be alone. You have to know that everything I am, all the good I've ever done…it came from you, Lexie. From you loving me; letting me love you back. You gave me everything, _everything_ I thought was lost forever when my world died…and now I'm going to give _you_ the world. So you have to live. _Really_ live. For me."

"I…I love you, bluebird," Alex whispered brokenly.

"Do you promise?" Kara persisted. She could see the blackness of space fast approaching; she was almost clear of earth's atmosphere.

"I…Kara…"

 _"Promise,"_ Kara whispered through the rushing wind, her voice ragged as the oxygen thinned.

"I…I promise," Alex whispered back, breaking down into a flood of tears.

"I'll love you forever, Lexie," Kara murmured with the last of her breath. Then with a burst of speed and strength that she'd never before attempted, the blonde girl swallowed the last of her oxygen reserves, and blasted clear through the outer ozone layer, her last glimpse of earth's blue sky fading away as the cold darkness of space consumed her. She felt the weightlessness that came with being beyond the reach of gravity, and she smiled serenely as she watched Fort Rozz gently floating away, drifting like a leaf on a meandering river current. It was over…earth was safe. Alex was safe. Everyone was safe.

Even with the pain of oxygen deprivation piercing through her chest, Kara smiled. The bright yellow sun shone over her drifting body as she let herself go limp, unresisting to the weightless silence of space that consumed her. Looking down at planet earth like this, for the first time since she was a child, she felt a love for the world that wrapped her body in warmth, despite the frozen vacuum of space that enveloped her. She tried to keep her eyes open, to keep looking at the beautiful sight of the revolving blue planet below her…but soon the lack of air made her vision grow fuzzy, and it became harder and harder to keep her eyes from sliding shut. Her thoughts became slow and foggy; but still peaceful. She really wasn't scared.

As her eyes finally closed, Kara thought she saw her pod silently moving toward her through the blackness of space; but she knew it was just a hallucination brought on by her oxygen-deprived brain. _Maybe my pod will bring me home to Rao,_ the blonde superhero thought to herself with a dazed smile. Then she let the blackness take her.

…

When Kara woke up, she found herself back on her DEO sunbed, resting comfortably with a few monitors beeping beside her. "The world didn't end," she murmured woozily, her voice surprisingly croaky. So she definitely wasn't dead—dead people didn't get dehydrated.

"Nope. Still here," Alex voice murmured in her ear, warm and close and reassuring. Kara opened her eyes and smiled up at the only person in all the light of Rao she cared about in that moment.

"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…in the whole universe," Kara grinned, groggy but content. She didn't even try to move; she just let Alex climb onto the sunbed with her, covering her with kisses.

"No, you are," Alex grinned back, her eyes swimming with tears. She rubbed her face into Kara's blonde hair, inhaling her sweet scent and holding her like she'd never let go.

"What happened?" Kara yawned softly.

"You saved the world…and then I saved you," Alex shrugged modestly. "With your pod."

"You flew my pod?" Kara asked, still slightly befuddled as she struggled to wake up more completely, rubbing her eyes as she turned into Alex's embrace, resting her head on her wife's arm.

"Mm-hmm," Alex smirked, a little of her cocky bravado returning to her dark eyes now that she knew Kara was all right. "I think your mom would have been proud of my piloting skills." Kara laughed, all the tension in her body leaving her in a rush as she grabbed Alex's face with both hands and kissed her hard.

"Lexie…you're my Supergirl."

"And I always will be…you're not getting rid of me, you big dumb hero." Alex kissed the end of Kara's nose. Kara giggled shyly.

"We saved the world," the blonde girl grinned hugely, still looking like she didn't quite believe it; like saying it out loud made it somehow real.

"We saved the fucking world," Alex agreed, her fingers playing through Kara's long hair contentedly. "How should we celebrate, hmm babe?"

"Can I eat my weight in pot stickers and ice cream?" Kara grinned hopefully. "I need my strength so I can make you scream my name all night long."

"Such a romantic," Alex teased, her cheeks flushing pink as she thought about all the different ways her very attentive little alien could achieve her goal.

"Damn straight," Kara nodded proudly. Then they both dissolved into giggles, holding onto each other as their bodies shook with joyful laughter. They had all the time in the world…they had the world. It was all still here. And Kara and Alex were going to spend the rest of their lives finding new ways to enjoy it.

…

…Stay tuned for final chapter! And remember that if you are interested in seeing a second season for this fic…you gotta leave a review and tell me! Peace out to all the Superfans! :)


	26. Happily Ever After

Hello my darling Superfans!

Thank you all SO MUCH for the crazy amount of feedback you gave on the question of season 2! Rest assured, it's definitely happening. Now you get to vote on where you want the second season to pick up. This last chap takes place three years in the future; do you want to see season two pick up right where this chap leaves off? Or do you want it in real time, picking up where the _last_ chap left off? Either way it's not going to _remotely_ resemble the season 2 that we've been watching on TV…it's just as I feared, the stupid CW has screwed it all up. Aside from actually allowing Alex to come out and have a girlfriend, which is amazeballs, this season has pretty much been a train wreck, hasn't it? It's like each one of the writers was locked in separate rooms, and they all had to write their part without having any idea what anyone else was writing. I miss Cat Grant so much. Sigh.

So that's the current poll: season 2 in real time, or season 2 picking up 3 years in the future? It's been an amazing ride on this story for the past year, thank you all so so much for coming along on the journey! I promise the next season will start SOON. But it will be a new story, so keep your eyes out for that, not an update to this story. Now, without further ado…the final chapter. Enjoy!

…

 **I'd Carry a Plane for You**

 **Chapter 26: Epilogue**

….

 _Three Years Later_

The sun was just beginning to peek through the gauzy purple curtains in Kara and Alex's bedroom; they were both still fast asleep, along with most of the city. _Unlike_ most of the city, they had a ten-month-old puppy in their apartment, who did not care whether it was too early as he bounded up onto the bed, tail wagging almost frantically, and stuck his wet little nose in Kara's ear.

"Buster, no," the blonde girl whined sleepily, not bothering to open her eyes; she just reached out and pushed his snout gently away from her face. "Go back to sleep, puppy…" Rather than take the hint, the Golden Retriever just licked her hand. Kara giggled involuntarily, squirming ticklishly on top of Alex, who sighed and mumbled inaudibly in her sleep. The blonde girl's attention was immediately drawn from her adorable puppy, to her even more adorable wife, who she was currently using as a human pillow. Yawning softly, Kara propped herself up on one arm, a drowsy, unguarded grin spreading across her face as she watched Alex sleep. The puppy didn't like losing her attention, however, and he gave a little yap of distress, waking Alex with a jolt.

"Hush," the dark-haired girl murmured, still sounding at least half-asleep as she reached out and wrapped one arm over the squirming puppy, and he flopped down across her stomach happily.

"Buster, you're messing up my game," the blonde girl complained seriously to the overexcited puppy. "I was gonna wake your mommy up with my tongue!"

"Well that's what you get for not locking the bedroom door," Alex mumbled with a yawn, ducking her head against Kara's arm and burrowing into her, the way she always did when she was just waking up.

"If we lock the door…he'll never learn," Kara argued sleepily back, the same lighthearted but persistent argument they'd been having for months over the best approach to puppy-training.

"Said the girl who just got cock-blocked by a Golden Retriever," Alex snickered. "If we _don't_ lock the door, you realize, we're never having morning sex again." Kara's eyes narrowed mischievously, completely awake and alert now.

"Oh, you think so?" The blonde girl smirked in that playful, overconfident way that Alex knew so well. It usually meant that Kara was about to show off for her, in some way that would mean Alex didn't have to lift a finger to get what she wanted. She grinned languidly.

"Mm-hmm."

"Looks like a job for Supergirl," Kara pronounced, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth even as she pretended to be so very serious.

"Look Buster, Mama's gonna save us from the forces of evil," Alex murmured to the puppy, ruffling his soft fur. Buster yapped excitedly, dancing around the bed with his tail still wagging uncontrollably. Kara smirked. Then she zoomed out of bed so fast, she was nothing but a blur. A moment later, the puppy leapt to attention on top of the covers as he heard the sound of his food being poured, and scrambled frantically off the bed, racing to follow Kara down the hall. Alex giggled quietly to herself. Another whoosh and blur of motion, and Kara was back under the warm covers.

"I locked the door this time."

"Good. That means I don't have to rush through teasing you until you scream, just because I don't know how long we have before we'll be interrupted…" Alex crawled on top of Kara on her hands and knees, and Kara threaded her fingers through Alex's hair, pulling her down into a warm, slow, unhurried good morning kiss. The minutes stretched out endlessly as they got lost in each other, skin to skin; but just as the sun was fully rising outside their window, Alex groaned softly and pulled away.

"Lex? What's wrong?" Kara panted, flush-faced, her blue eyes still glazed with desire. "Are you gonna throw up again?" In answer, Alex just scrambled out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Kara sighed and followed her.

…...

"God dammit…I'm sorry, Kar," Alex panted weakly, falling back against the cool tile when she was finally done puking. Kara just stroked her hair back from her face, and kissed her forehead, passing over a little Dixie cup of water from the sink. Alex took a small sip, and grimaced.

"Please don't say you're sorry, baby," Kara shook her head with a sympathetic little half-smile, concern etched across her face. "Just say you'll let Dr. Schwartzman check you out today, okay?" Alex closed her eyes and whined childishly.

"Karaaaa, I'm fiiiine," the dark-haired girl moaned, standing up a little shakily as if to prove her point. "See? All good. Just a minute of badness, it's totally over."

"Until tomorrow," Kara replied stubbornly. "You've been throwing up every morning for a week. That doesn't strike you as odd? Seriously, I'm starting to freak out a little. Please humor me?" The blonde girl fell back on one of her only failsafe options in this type of situation—make it something Alex was doing to make _Kara_ feel better, not something she was doing for her own sake. It was the only way the blonde girl ever got her stubborn human into the nurse's office in high school. Alex sighed impatiently; and Kara knew she'd won this round.

"All right, all right, my overprotective little ball of sunshine."

"Thank you." Kara smirked, ignoring Alex's eye-roll and kissing her on the cheek.

"Mm." Alex grabbed her toothbrush and hastily brushed her teeth; the second she was done, Kara was on her again, pushing her up against the cool tile wall and kissing her hard. Alex kissed her back; but then she gave another little whine of protest. "Don't be mad, bluebird…"

"I'm not mad. What's wrong?" Kara asked anxiously, cocking her head to assess Alex up and down.

"Nothing's wrong, I just… _really_ want breakfast. Like, right now."

"You were just throwing up five minutes ago."

"Yes dear, I know. I was there."

"So don't you think you should take it slow on your tummy? It might not be ready for food. Maybe just some crackers or something?"

"Kara, I swear to God, if you don't feed me in the next five minutes I am going to eat the dog."

"Okay, okay," Kara laughed. "Come on then, my beautiful little freak. What do you wanna eat?"

"Waffles. And chocolate milk. And bacon. Do we have any bacon?"

"Nope."

"Will you go get some?"

"Right now?"

"Pleaaaase babe?" Alex batted her dark eyelashes and pouted. Even after three years of marriage, Kara still felt her knees turn to jelly when Alex looked at her like that.

"You're lucky that making you smile is my prime directive," the blonde girl grinned indulgently. Alex grinned back hugely, and kissed her.

…...

When they arrived at the DEO, Kara had to literally drag Alex by the hand into the med bay, insisting that she get checked out first thing. Alex whined and argued and complained; but she allowed herself to be herded into the doctor's office, knowing in the end that it was important for Kara to hear from someone with an actual MD that Alex was perfectly fine, thank you very much. How could she be sick? She'd just eaten almost as many waffles as Kara…and that was _really_ saying something.

"Good morning my dears," Dr. Schwartzman smiled genially at them when she saw them walking into the med bay. "Something I can do for you today?"

"You can figure out what the heck is wrong with Alex," Kara said anxiously, pushing her resistant wife down to sit on the exam table.

"Alternately, you can also tell Kara that _nothing_ is wrong with Alex, so she can just stop worrying," the dark-haired girl said sardonically. The doctor raised an eyebrow impassively.

"Lexie, come on. _Something_ is wrong," Kara glared, folding her arms stubbornly. Then she looked back to the doctor, making her case to her now, since Alex was obviously not going to hear it. "She's been puking her guts out every morning this week."

"For ten minutes," Alex jumped in, her glare just as stubborn. "Totally fine after that. Twenty-three hours and fifty minutes of fine. Ten minutes of puking."

"Every day for a week," Kara persisted. "And then she eats like a starving person. She ate as many waffles as _me_ today! Do you _know_ how many waffles I eat, Dr. S? I'm worried she has an alien parasite or something. Have any of the DEO's busts in the last month shown evidence of parasitic activity?"

"Okay, let's take it one step at a time," the DEO doctor nodded, all business now as she took her time giving Alex a thorough and diligent check-up. All her vitals were normal; no sign of infection. Then she pulled out a needle to do a blood test; but when she pushed it against Alex's arm, instead of penetrating her skin, it snapped in half.

"What the fuck?" Alex stared down at her arm in shock. There was no mark at all where the sharp needle had touched her skin; she hadn't even felt it. Kara said nothing, but her eyes were wide as dinner plates.

"All right, I think we're getting warmer," Dr. Schwartzman said calmly. Alex grabbed a scalpel from the tray of instruments beside the exam table, and flat-out jabbed it into her arm—or, she tried to. The scalpel snapped in half just like the needle.

"Okay Kar, you win. You wanted me to freak out? I'm freaking out."

"I didn't want you to freak out, I just wanted you to take your healthcare seriously!"

"Can we hit the pause button on the freak-out?" Dr. Schwartzman calmly rolled the tray of useless tools away, and brought over the portable ultrasound.

"What are you looking for?" Alex asked warily. The ultrasound didn't scare her; but wondering what it would show? That was a different story. "Do you really think I have an alien parasite?"

"Should I get J'onn? He could tell us if any of the aliens in DEO detention have parasitic properties," Kara jumped in anxiously.

"I think I'll do a better exam if everyone stops talking," the doctor pointed out, calm and cool as ever. Kara and Alex both fell silent; and for once, Alex was an obedient patient, lying back on the table and allowing Dr. Schwartzman to cover her stomach with cold goop before she pushed the plastic ultrasound wand across Alex's skin. "Well my dears…it looks like you've got yourselves a little alien parasite, after all. At least, half an alien." The older woman was smiling. Kara and Alex just started at her in confusion.

"What?" Alex raised one eyebrow uncertainly.

"Congrats, Mommies. You're pregnant."

 _"What?"_ Alex squeaked again, in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. Kara said nothing at all, wide-eyed as a deer in headlights. "You're kidding, right? This is doctor humor? You _do_ realize girls can't get each other pregnant?" Alex stared at the doctor uncomprehendingly.

 _"Human_ women can't get each other pregnant," the older woman corrected her.

"I think we would have heard about it before this if women were getting each other pregnant on Krypton!" Alex exclaimed, sounding a little hysterical now. Kara was still silent as a statue.

"Alex, breathe," Dr. Schwartzman instructed calmly, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Take a breath…you _are_ pregnant, sweetie. You are. We can speculate as to the science behind it—I have some theories. But regardless of our level of understanding, little Grey-Danvers is coming. She doesn't care if we get it or not."

"She?" Alex asked quietly, her voice much more subdued now as she stared at the ultrasound screen, trying to make herself see what the doctor was seeing. All she saw were black and white blobs. "It's…it's a girl? You can tell already?"

"Not from the ultrasound, no. It's too early for that. But common sense dictates that two people with only X chromosomes, can only make another person with only X chromosomes," the doctor shrugged.

"Common sense also dictates that girls can't get each other pregnant," Alex pointed out.

"Yes, well. I'll have to do more research, of course. Certainly, Astra will be an important resource. But it's not unheard of—even here on earth—for this to happen, at least in the animal kingdom. The West African Common Reed Frog has the ability to spontaneously change sex by means of a chemical catalyst when reproduction rates aren't high enough to sustain the population. Kara's physiology must have some similar, dormant property, and it senses that Kryptonian reproduction rates on this planet are nonexistent."

"Kara's not a frog. And she _definitely_ did not change genders! I think I'd notice that," Alex scoffed disbelievingly. "And even if she _could_ do that, it wouldn't make a difference, because humans and Kryptonians are not biologically compatible! Clark and Lois have never been able to have a baby, and _they_ have all the right equipment."

"I have some theories about that too," Dr. Schwartzman nodded, not missing a beat. "Mostly revolving around Kara's solar flares…like during the eclipse, about six weeks back? Can I assume you were…intimate during that time?" Alex and Kara just started at her blankly. "I'll take that as a yes." The doctor repressed a small grin. "This is just a hypothesis of course…but I've theorized for years now that humans and Kryptonians are perfectly compatible, in fact. Our physiology is almost identical. Lack of compatibility was never a problem…it's the impenetrability provided to Kryptonians here on earth, by virtue of our yellow sun, that's gotten in the way. Kara's body—and Clark's, and Astra's—they're all impenetrable. Just like you apparently are now. The baby is protecting you." She gestured to Alex's stomach, and the dark-haired girl unconsciously raised a hand and rubbed the spot just below her bellybutton with her thumb.

"And when she solar flares…she's not impenetrable anymore," Alex completed the thought.

"Exactly so." The room fell eerily silent for a moment, as they all struggled to absorb this gigantic new piece of information. Then Alex suddenly realized that Kara hadn't made a sound since Dr. Schwartzman said the word "pregnant."

"Kar? Are you okay? What are you thinking?" Alex asked gently, alarmed by Kara's expression. She looked terrified, and she was pale as a sheet. "Is it…are you…do you not want this?" Alex's hand unconsciously gravitated back to her stomach protectively.

"No! It's—it's not—I didn't"—Kara stumbled over her words, apparently unable to commit to a full sentence. "Lexie…I'm so sorry…" Her blue eyes filled up with tears. Alex stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"You're _sorry?"_ the newly-bulletproof girl stared at her wife blankly. "What kind of thing is that to say? What the hell are you sorry for?" Kara just shook her head, unable to speak as the tears began to spill down her face. With a choked little sob, she ran out of the room, barely even aware of the fact that she was using her super-speed until she found herself back above ground, desperate for fresh air. A moment later, Alex was there beside her.

"H-how did you do that?" Kara hiccupped, trying hard to stop her tears.

"Guess the little one got more than one of your superpowers," Alex shrugged with a glowing smile. The rich desert sunlight was filtering through her dark hair, bringing out deep mahogany highlights. "It'll be fun finding out what else she can do…what I can do, I mean. For now." Kara sniffled and wiped her eyes, but didn't say anything.

"So…" Alex said slowly, unused to this unmooring sensation of not knowing what Kara was thinking, what she was feeling. They were usually so in sync. But right now, the blonde alien girl seemed to be completely flipped out—and not in a good way. And Alex was at a complete loss as to why. They'd always wanted kids, they'd talked about it before…of course, they'd always assumed they'd adopt. Alex had insisted from the very beginning that if she couldn't carry Kara's baby, she wasn't going to carry a stranger's. And now…this new development was nothing short of a miracle. Kara would not be the last Kryptonian, after all. The bloodline of the house of El would live on. Why wouldn't Kara be happy about that?

"Babe? Are you going to say _anything?_ " Alex asked gently. "You don't…you don't want me to get rid of it…do you?" _That_ snapped Kara back to attention.

"Oh, Lexie, no…no, no, never," Kara shook her head, wrapping her arms around her _zrhueiao_ and holding onto her so tight…so tight, it should crush her bones to powder. But it didn't. Kara was hugging Alex with all her strength, and Alex was hugging Kara back just as hard. Not yelping in pain or falling down. "I'm just…so scared…what kind of life is she going to have? How are we going to deal with a baby that can _literally_ tear the house down if she doesn't want to eat her strained peas? Oh, Rao, Alex, it was hard enough for me to deal with having powers when I was thirteen…but to think about being burdened like that as a baby…it feels so cruel," Kara whispered, burying her face in Alex's neck.

"Shh, bluebird, it's okay…it's okay, we'll figure it out," Alex promised, pulling back just enough to force Kara to make eye contact. "Clark was three years old when he got his powers, and he grew up just fine. He'll help us. Astra will help us. The DEO will help us. Eliza and Jeremiah will help us. We've got a whole village, Kar. This baby is going to be so loved, we're gonna give her everything…you _do_ want this, don't you?" Alex's dark eyes were glittering with insecurity; and suddenly Kara felt like the biggest jerk in the galaxy.

"Lexie…of _course_ I want this…you're having my baby…" Kara's tears suddenly turned into laughter.

"I know," Alex grinned back dazedly, giggling almost deliriously. "Our lives are never boring, huh?"

"Alexandra Caroline Grey-Danvers…you are the best thing that's ever happened to me," Kara beamed, wrapping both arms around her beautiful girl's neck and kissing her soundly, until there was no room left for doubt. "…And now I get to have _two_ best things that ever happened to me."

"Really?" Alex asked in a small voice; and then she was crying too.

"Yes, yes, yes…" Kara murmured, pressing their foreheads together in love and comfort and trust, just as they'd been doing since they were kids. "I'm sorry I freaked out, Lex, I'm so sorry…you deserve so much better than that…" Kara swept her beloved up into her arms as if she were no heavier than their ten-month-old puppy, and kissed her again. They didn't even notice their feet floating up off the ground, as their happiness turned into weightlessness.

"Kara…" Alex murmured when they finally came up for air.

"Hmm?" Kara murmured, her eyes still closed with her head leaning against Alex's.

"I'm floating." _That_ snapped Kara back to attention, and her eyes flew open with a jolt. They were both hovering about ten feet above the dusty desert floor…and though they were touching, Kara was _definitely_ not holding Alex up.

"You can fly." Kara beamed hugely. "Lexie, you can fly!"

"At least for another seven months or so," Alex laughed. She let go of Kara and did a clumsy flip in the air, trying to figure out how to control her strange new power. "Damn, this is so freaking cool…thanks, alien baby!" She spoke directly to her stomach, and Kara laughed delightedly, a real, full-on, ball-of-sunshine Kara Danvers laugh.

"Thank _me_ , I'm the one who knocked you up." Kara puffed her chest out proudly, as if this were some kind of personal achievement she'd worked towards.

"Thank you, bluebird." Alex wrapped her arms around Kara's neck and kissed her. "Thank you…thank you…" Kara's arms wrapped around Alex's hips, and Alex gently took one hand, pressing it over her stomach and holding it there. Kara rubbed her thumb in gentle circles with a soft sigh of happiness.

"Our parents are going to be unbearable," the blonde girl giggled. "Oh, Rao, and Astra…" Alex laughed too.

"Let's not worry about that right now, okay?"

"Okay," Kara agreed easily.

"Right now…I just want to play hookie and go flying with you. Baby's first flying lesson. You up for it?" Alex grinned hopefully.

"Are you kidding?" Kara beamed. In response, Alex just wiggled her eyebrows, and took off a little clumsily into the wide blue sky. "Hey!" Kara shrieked, giggling again, and bolted after her. Damn, Alex was _fast!_ Kara was definitely going to have to work on her speed now…especially if she wanted to keep up with her kid by this time next year. Life on earth didn't get much better than this.

… _The End! Kara and Alex say thanks for reading :)_


End file.
